Zuzu's Petals
by Numbuh Phenon
Summary: "What if I gave you the childhood you wanted? Would it be worth it in the end?"
1. Act One

Instead of complaining that the rosebush is full of thorns, be happy that the thorn bush has roses. ~Proverb

**~1~**

_Rainbow Christmas, Rainbow Christmas,  
_

_Oh, so very wild and filled with children!  
_

_Joy for all the girls and boys,  
_

_Naughty, naughty kids don't get no toys!  
_

_Oh, silver and gold and red and white,  
_

_Rainbow Christmas, Rainbow Christmas, is tonight!_

"Oooh," Bartie depressingly moaned quietly to himself as the music went on and on. The fair haired communications officer grumbled to himself as he pressed his helmet down harder, hoping that it would help drown out the bubbly, oh so girly song booming over the intercom system. Every boy around him in the station agreed with his thoughts, but it would matter not. "Any other song would have been better then _this_."

"I concur." Numbuh 74.239 snipped form the left of Bartie. The auburn scientist was trying to engage a fellow nerd in a good old fashioned holiday Yipper smackdown match, but the irritating music made it near impossible to concentrate. Dave's eyes twitched as he stared intently at the trading cards in his hand and he attempted to block out the noise. His finger hovered over two promising cards that could secure his victory, but the the song restarted itself and the girl nearest to the player cranked the volume up louder.

"THAT'S IT!" Dave snapped. His sudden motions surprised the scientist opposite of him, and dozens of Yipper cards were tossed carelessly to the air as he violently turned to face the source of the music. Dave sneered at the girls, at how their heads bobbed joylessly in tune with the beat. Finally having enough, he rose his fist and shook it while he shouted. "We've been forced to listen to this nonsense four times now! FOUR! Either pipe it down or shut it off!" As he finished, every other male in the station made annoyed grunts of agreement.

"Shaddup, _boy_!" Fanny responded as she glared at the orange haired nerd. The redhead allowed a cheeky grin to bloom upon her lips as her fingers lightly grasped the knob of the speaker, turning up the music even louder. "We all voted on what ta listen to, and we all around better GIRLS won fair 'n' square. So nah!"

Standing up himself, Herbie got out of his seat, and frowned at Fanny as he adjusted his glasses and pocket protector. "Of course the girls would win! You all waited to pull the vote trick until Numbuh 77.904 left to go home, making there be one more girl then the boys' total count! That's not fair!"

At that, Fanny smugly smirked. "I _know_. That was the whole point." The Global Tactical Officer then high-fived a nearby girl Elite and proceeded to turn the music up to the max.

"Aw man." Bartie sighed as him and every other boy slumped in defeat. They all then shared a cringe when the music just got louder, and Numbuh 35 found himself getting a headache. Bartie spared a hopeful look to the clock, and his angst only built when he saw they still had a little over an hour before they could go home. But hour or not, he was NOT listening to this girly crud.

"Numbuh 362," Bartie whined to the blonde over at her podium. "Numbuh 86 played dirty!"

Rachel's pen halted its rapid movement and she looked up from her clipboard when she realized she had been addressed by someone. The blonde girl blinked as she turned to the station behind her, and found herself frowning a bit as the music fluttered into her ears. Truth be told, she had been far too engrossed in her work to notice the music before. But now that the annoying Rainbow Monkey holiday tune was in her head, it was difficult to get out. Rolling her eyes, Rachel hopped off from her stand, and strolled over to the player.

Fanny was mindlessly grinning and humming along with the tune, as was every other female in the area. But right when it was reaching the best part, they all froze when they realized someone had turned the volume to a mere whisper. Enraged, the redhead turned to chew out the boy who dared to tamper with her music, only to freeze when she saw Rachel staring at her mildly.

"Numbuh 86," Rachel started as her hands strayed away from the player. She arched a thin brow and looked down at the girl with a light scolding expression. "Either turn it off, or turn it down and put on something _everyone_ can listen to."

"But –"

"Now."

"Aye." Fanny moaned as she flicked with the system. After a moment, the never ending chorus of 'Rainbow Christmas' ended, and was soon replaced with a much more softer 'Silent Night' instead. The redhead leaned into her seat, crossing her arms with a disappointed huff. "Ya just did it cause ye don't like rainbow monkeys."

Rachel ignored the girl's comment as she returned to tending to the inspection papers within her hold. "It won't be that much longer guys."

The current date was December 24th on the global KND calendar, and the Moonbase was emptying itself rather quickly as every kid began to rush home to spend the evening with their families. The ultimate holiday for children was upon them, and everyone was getting excited about it. It was only a few hours away before judgment came and they would either be rewarded for being nice, or punished for acting naughty all year 'round. For operatives of the Kids Next Door, this day marked not only the start of Christmas, but the start of their break from duty until the New Year. But most of them were more concerned about what would be under their tree tomorrow. Yes, the prospect of candy, hot chocolate, and presents was more pressing on their minds at the moment.

Most of the lunar base was already cleared out seeing as many kids lived in different time-zones. Save for a select few, and those who didn't celebrate the coming holidays, the moon treehouse was almost deathly quiet. It was a tad ironic.

Up in the large loft where Global Command was usually stationed, the remaining waiting kids sat around while the Supreme Leader did her paperwork thing like every year. Fanny was surrounded by a few girl Elites chatting about the newest rainbow monkey. Dave was discussing Yipper trading card strategies with a small group of science nerds. And Bartie was the last communications officer still trapped there due to cashing in his all his off time earlier in the year.

"This is killing me." Bartie moaned once more as he slouched in his seat. He had so many plans for tonight that it wasn't even funny. His big sister was coming home from college and like every year, she, himself, and their dad would order the biggest, bestest pizza in the entire town and flock around the television watching old specials. His mouth watered at the thought, and it felt as if the wait was stretching on much longer. The boy flicked a look to his Yipper watch again and sighed. "Casey's probably at the house by now…"

From her position, Rachel picked up on Numbuh 35's silent sentence. She looked up from her clipboard and paused to take in the children seated at the station. The music wasn't doing anything for their bored expressions, and the blonde frowned sadly as she glanced at her watch. It was still a good hour before they were permitted to go home. But after a few seconds, she shook her head. Just because she had to spend Christmas here didn't mean they had to.

"Okay, listen up everybody," Rachel spoke out, garnering immediate attention from the small group. A tiny smile played about her lips as she decided to release them from what she had dubbed a 'lunar holding pen'. "There's nothing left for you to do, so it really doesn't make sense to keep you here for another hour. You're all dismissed. Merry Christmas."

The children shared a collective blink as the news settled in. Not a second later, they let out a loud cheer as an array of papers, Yipper cards, and other items were tossed up in joy. Rachel only shook her head as she shut down the terminal at her podium. She re-clicked her pen out and intently focused on her clipboard as she walked down past the kids, getting too many 'thank you m'am' and 'you're the best' praises to count. As her eyes trailed down the list, she stopped at the section that mentioned the decommissioning bay.

"Numbuh 86," She called out without looking up. When she felt the redhead's eyes on her she continued. "Go make sure the decommissioning wing is locked up before you leave and…" She suddenly trailed off, and before Fanny could say anything, Rachel shook her head. "Nevermind, I'll take care of it. I'm not going anywhere."

Fanny looked skeptic as she zipped her coat. Rachel was already making herself too busy. "Are ye sure, m'am?"

"Yes." The blonde answered already near the door. "I'll stop by there before I head off to my office."

"Oh! Numbuh 362! I just remembered something!" Rachel paused and twisted her neck to look back at Bartie who just called out. "You got a message from Numbuh 1. He said they'd be up here with that mission report you wanted."

Rachel rose a brow at the mention of the bald boy. "When will he be here?"

"Hold on, he'll be here…" Bartie mumbled as he checked the message at his console before he left. He looked at Sector V's estimated time of arrival, then to his watch. But after he read the time, he looked to his commanding officer with a sheepish look. "…uh, he'll get here…twenty minutes ago. Heh heh."

"I see." Bartie scratched the back of his head in embarrassment as Rachel gave him a dry look. After a moment, the blonde simply sighed and turned to leave. "Merry Christmas, Numbuh 35."

Bartie could only watch in relief as Numbuh 362 disappeared behind the metal door. Whew, that was a close one. After wiping at his forehead, the child returned to packing his stuff so he could catch the next shuttle home. Triple cheese pizza, here he comes!

* * *

"Twenty minutes ago. Ha, that's a _good_ one." Rachel grumbled aggravatingly as she walked down one of many halls. She flipped over to the next sheet on her clipboard, and groaned as she began reading over it. She knew that Numbuh 35 didn't mean any harm. Everyone makes slip ups. But it was just that she felt like she had the rest of her work planned out, and now she's getting a surprise/planned visit from Nigel that throws her out of sync. Not that she normally minded, but she was just frustrated at the moment.

Perhaps more then a bit frustrated, but it was no different from every other year since she became Supreme Leader.

The girl put thoughts like that aside. It was nothing she cared to look too deeply into. Besides, her mother said sometimes adults had to work through the holidays. Maybe it was a good thing she was getting used to it so early. But even so, she wanted to go home like everyone else was. She wanted to spend Christmas as her family came in from different corners of the country. She wanted to listen to her aunt's exaggerated stories. She wanted to lay giddily in bed awaiting for her presents to arrive. She wanted to celebrate the holiday like everyone else. Like a normal kid.

But she _wasn't_ a normal kid, she wasn't even a normal Kids Next Door operative. She wasn't just some field agent or some intern, she was in charge of it all. She was at the lonely summit as Supreme Leader. She had to do all the stuff nobody wanted to do. Had to do the job nobody wanted to accept. She had to wade through mountains of paperwork to make sure everything was stable. Nothing would be functional if she didn't oversee it. Science nerds wanted to build some new anti-adult airship? If she didn't go over 2x4 inventory, then that couldn't be done. The Sector L studio wanted funding for some new kid soap opera production? If she didn't make sure the budget and treasury was in order then they could forget about it.

Rachel's eyelids dropped slightly as she became bored with the wording of the paper. She found it amusing that a 'kid' organization could come up with documents that sounded so much like adult business. It was all so dull. Her job was the definition of dull. She honestly had no idea what she was getting into when she accepted the position, but she would admit she expected it to be a bit more exciting. Numbuhs 100 and 274 made it look so glorified and glamorous.

_'No one's made a trading card out of _me_.' _She mused as her pen scribbled her name and codenumbuh down on the final line.

The blonde finally looked up from her clipboard when she entered the lobby. Rachel glanced over the couch by the window which was where Nigel preferred to occupy whenever he came up to the moonbase. Sadly, her hopes dimmed when she noticed the Brit wasn't on the green sofa. She then peered around the rest of the room and her mood continued to drop as she noticed the lack of that special blend of bald, crimson, and sunglasses. Not seeing any sign of Nigel, Rachel let out something of a disappointed sigh.

_'Must have went home. I don't blame him.'_ Waiting around and being cooped up on the moonbase on Christmas Eve was something no operative wanted. Even herself. Rachel only glanced back down to her clipboard as she turned to head for her office. But she paused mid-step, and looked over her shoulder once more; trying to see if Nigel was hiding somewhere. Figuring that was a silly idea, she prepared to exit the lobby.

"Looking for someone?"

Rachel clenched her eyes shut, and forced herself not flinch in surprise before facing the smug British voice. "And here I thought I was the spy." The girl calmed herself before opening her eyes, seeing Nigel standing before her. A playful smirk and mission report going hand in hand with his character. "I must be slipping."

"I'm sure you were just preoccupied." Nigel said gesturing to her clipboard. Dropping into professional mode, the Brit's face went stoic as he passed a thin file into her hands. "Here's that report you wanted, commander. Turns out the Common Cold was just buying some eggnog for the adult's Christmas party, and not poison to ruin ours."

"That's one less thing to worry about then," Rachel commented as she took the file and tucked it under her shoulder. "I'm sorry you had to wait so long. Communications get lazy around this time of year, especially tonight."

"Understandable." Nigel agreed as he smiled. "But it's good to see you again, Rachel."

"Likewise." She responded, deciding to let his addressing her by first name while on duty slide. She read over another line of her document, and sighed as she prepared to walk off. "Would love to talk, but you've been kept up here long enough. I'm sure you have plans."

"Yeah, mom's fixing her shortcakes, and dad failed to convince dear old 'uncle' to drop by, thank Zero." Nigel chuckled. His mom was making her rare dessert, he had presents to look forward to tomorrow morn, and Father wouldn't be there to spoil his holiday. Everything was going to be perfect. "Gram-Gram managed to fly in from England this year, so I'm certainly looking forward to this evening."

"That's nice." Rachel lightly uttered before frowning a bit. She couldn't help it. Even the workaholic of the Kids Next Door spent his Christmas at home. She was happy Nigel would be enjoying himself, he deserved to take the time off. But still, she was a tad jealous due to her own situation. The blonde's lips quirked before turning for the door. "I won't keep you any longer. Have a nice holiday."

Nigel looked at the girl's retreating back with puzzlement. "Rachel," It took her a second to stop and face him, and he in turn just used his hand to motion behind him. "The hanger is _that _way."

She looked stumped for a moment, before catching on to what he was implying. "I'm too busy to go home right now, Numbuh 1."

"Oh come on Rachel," Seeing where this was going, Nigel quickly chased after the girl until he fell in step beside her. "It's the holidays and everyone else is going home. Cut yourself some slack."

"I would if could, but I can't." Rachel replied while multitasking between speaking with Nigel and looking over the final sheet on her clipboard. "There's too much leftover paperwork and other documents to look over. If our transition into the New Year is to be a smooth one, I'm going to have to clock in some holiday hours."

"That's not being fair to yourself." Nigel argued as he frowned. "Out of every operative I know, you've worked the hardest all year, nonstop. You deserve this time off more then anybody else."

"I really wish it worked that way, Nigel. But if I don't do this stuff, no one else will."

"But just because it doesn't get done tonight, or tomorrow doesn't mean everything is gonna go to heck in a Easter basket. The only one stressing out about all of it is you. You don't have to carry the whole world on your shoulders."

"Look who's talking." Rachel lightly jibbed before shaking it off. "I'm sorry, Nigel. I know you mean well, I really do."

"I just worry about you, Rachel." Nigel confided as he looked towards the blonde. Her short golden locks bounced with every new step she took, and her chocolate pupils shone with concentration as she focused on the sheet in front of her. "You're a kid too. I would hate for you to miss out on so much of your childhood."

"That's just it. I gave up the opportunity to be a normal kid when I got this job." She muttered, finding a bit of spite for the title of Supreme Leader. "It demands almost everything and no one wants to lend a helping hand. I'm all by myself on this."

Nigel's lips tightened as she went on. His look strayed to the floor ahead, watching the tiles pass by under him without care. After a minute or two of silence, the boy glanced back to Rachel with a soft look that went unnoticed as she continued scribbling away. "You know you have me."

"I know." Rachel responded mindlessly as she became more absorbed in the paper. Someone was requesting fifteen gallons of caramel and mustard each for some project, yet it never said who the someone was. How was she supposed to figure that out? She could be filling out a request form from the Splinter Cell for all she knew. "It's alright Nigel, I'm used to pulling all-nighters alone up here."

The bald boy looked off to the side. Glancing out the window as he mustered up courage for his next line. "But I don't want you to be alone…"

_'Wait, is this the same kid who invented the 'Blow Up the Engines' button?'_ Rachel wondered as she noticed the name somewhere in between the lines. If _that_ guy wanted all that caramel and mustard then it couldn't possibly bode well for the rest of them. Suddenly, she was sure heard Nigel's voice and looked over at him. "I'm sorry, did you say something?"

"Nothing." Nigel sighed. He looked over to her to see that she was already back to her paper again. Apparently she was dead serious on this matter, and nothing he could say would sway her otherwise. She was going to trapped all alone up here for the holidays with no one at her side. But then his eyes widened as he got an idea. He hesitated for a moment, debating if he really wanted to do this. He was _really_ anticipating his Christmas this year. He then shifted his gaze back to her, taking in her form once more. Then he then knew without a doubt he was fully committed about going along with his plan.

"What if I stayed to help?" Nigel offered as he motioned his hand about. "Two heads are better then one, and things could get finished up faster so you'll still have the chance to get home." He then smiled warmly as he waited on baited breath for her answer. "And even still, at least you won't be all by yourself for Christmas."

Rachel was still to deeply immersed within her paperwork to fully register the extent of the boy's offer. Once she was able to think a bit on something other then the document, she waved off the boy motioning him to leave. "That's quite alright Nigel, but this is my duty to deal with. Not yours."

"Oh." Was all Nigel managed to get out. He was expecting her to disagree and come up with some excuse. Something along the lines of 'not wanting to ruin his evening as well'. If that had been the case, then he had a planned response to it. But the bluntness of her statement took him by storm. So much that he actually found himself stopping while she continued onward. "Are you sure?" Seeing her walk away brought forth a depressing feeling within his chest.

"I'll be fine." Rachel nodded as she prepared to turn into the service elevator. Her eyes strayed upward a bit, feeling a strong urge to glance back at Nigel and see him off. She had a smile ready to go as she rose her head to look back, but then she caught sight of yet another surprise hitch in the paper and snorted as her attention was fully drawn to the sheet once more. "Merry Christmas, Nigel."

"Merry Christmas, Rachel." Nigel repeated a bit more somberly. His eyes stayed focused on the blonde girl until the doors of the elevator concealed her and took her up to the peak of the base. The Brit glanced up, adjusting his sunglasses a bit. Despite his best efforts, his mind never stopped clouding with thoughts of the girl. He cared a great deal about her, and it struck him that she rejected him in a way. But he knew she didn't mean it like that. She just thought she was doing what was best for everyone.

That upset him. She always worried so much about others that she never thought about herself or what she wanted. Just kept denying her personal happiness out of sense of duty.

"I wish you would let yourself be happy, Rachel." Nigel mumbled to himself as he shook his head. After sparing the elevator one last look, he turned to make his way back to the hanger before his team began to worry. And as his thoughts drifted to Rachel once again, he sent a silent prayer and wishing her the best.

* * *

"_That's it. Were you paying attention?"_

"_Oh yes sir. Got it all up here."_

"_Good, good. You understand your assignment?"_

"_Uh huh. I'm after the boy, right?"_

"…_No. The girl. Rachel T. McKenzie."_

"_Y-Yeah I knew that. I was just joshing with ya sir. Heh heh."_

"_Let's hope you take this more seriously. Do you have any further questions?"_

"_Actually, what does the 'T' stand for?"_

"_Will the information assist you in your assignment?"_

"_I…gee, I guess not sir."_

"_Then you know what you have to do."_

"_One more thing sir. Um, if I do well on this, then can I maybe get my…you know…"_

"_Hmm, well I'm not certain if –"_

"_PUH-LEEEEASE?"_

"_Ha ha ha. We shall see m'boy. We shall see."

* * *

_

"So he's NOT the same person who invented the 'Blow up the engines' button?" Rachel inquired over the line. She was seated at her desk going over various forms of documents when she finally decided to get the drop on the strange request order she needed to fill out. After a quick conformation from the kid on the other line, the blonde nodded to herself while writing out her signature.

"Okay, thank you. Tell Numbuh 89 he'll be getting his shipment the first week of January. Merry Christmas." She then paused, and sighed when the other kid began fussing. "My apologies. Happy Hanukkah." She hung up her super cool phone thing she didn't bother to remember the name of and grumbled as she filed the order from in her out box. "It should always be _Happy Holidays_. Way to go, Rachel."

With that task done, the girl quickly shifted to the next order of business. Which meant spending her Christmas Eve slaving away over some towering mountains of paperwork like some secretary. Only difference was _they_ got time off. But there was nothing she could do about it, so she preformed like some robot drone and went about reading and writing; mentally nagging about her duty all the while.

"Let's see, they're trying to get me to ban baths again. Denied." She mumbled as she glanced over the title. "A possible Teenz Treaty? Worth looking into. We need three dozen flashlights for the new S.C.A.M.P.P's. Maintenance needs to inspect decommissioning chambers five and twelve…decommissioning." She trailed off as her brows knitted together. Suddenly, she growled. "Darn it! I forgot to lock up decommissioning!"

Rachel grumbled as she adjusted her attention to her personal terminal. Locking the decommissioning center up remotely from her office would save her the walk. "Computer, access moonbase security measures."

"Remote access to security protocol has been temporarily suspended due to system check. Manual input is required."

"What?" Rachel stared ridiculously at computer as if it were human. It was denying _her_ access? "Who the heck authorized a systems check?"

"Operative Three Sixty-Two."

Despite the monotone voice, Rachel couldn't help but feel like the stupid thing sounded smug. The blonde grit her teeth. She didn't order a system check! She…wait. Oh. It was all coming back to her. Numbuh 71.899 talking to her about rebooting the security program. She gave him the go to do it, but she was busy doing inspection at the time so it slipped her mind.

In short, she had just locked herself out of security from her own office for the time being.

"This is just _fantastic_." Rachel graveled out as she slumped in her seat, her look darkening as her mini rant went on. "Now I have to go all the way down to security, then activate the lock down over in the decommissioning wing. Run all the way back up here and waste whatever's left of my night signing a bunch of stupid papers!" She exclaimed by slamming her fist down on her desk with heated agitation.

The shaking of her desk caused all sorts of items to tremble. Unsigned documents fluttered about unevenly, pencil holders tripped over sending markers and pens everywhere, and even her coco moo shook and spilt small drips of the milk everywhere. The blonde only became more unnerved, but flinched when she heard a metal clang. Surprised, she looked over the side of her desk to find something she didn't even know was there. There on the floor was a sliver cookie tin. One she must have knocked over. Curious, Rachel bent over picked it up into her hands, inspecting it. She didn't put this here. Really. However, she stopped once she noticed a tiny post-it note attached to the tin. Without a second thought she peeled it off and held it to her face.

_Hey sis. Grandma came over and brought some of her Christmas cookies. Managed to save you a few and left them on your desk since you're probably going to be hanging around the Moonbase extra long tonight being bored. And yeah, I've got you covered 'cause I'm just that awesome. Merry Christmas,_

_-Harvey._

Once she had finished her brother's note, Rachel could only gaze at it and the cookie tin with a woeful stare. Harvey had been thoughtful enough to bring some cookies up for her to enjoy. But it didn't help her mood. It only reminded her of the fact she was stuck up here and her family was back on Earth. Having a jolly evening and she wishing she could be there.

The girl now found herself not craving any sweet treats at the moment, but her brother's effort should not go to waste. Opening the tin, she was greeted by the sweet scent the cookies gave off. Freshly baked and covered with various patterns. Reindeers, Santa Claus, snowmen, you name it. Plucking up a few, she set them aside and placed the tin itself on a more secure corner of her desk. With that done, she reached into her pocket and produced a small plastic bag. Once the cookies were in the bag, she tucked it into the pouch of her tiger-striped sweater. There, she had something for a cookie break later. That was worth looking forward to at least.

"Huh, right." She scoffed a bit as she sunk into her seat. She tilted her head forwards a bit, and frowned as her helmet drifted over her bangs pushing them into her eyes; as if reminding her of her position and place. Her hands strayed to her headgear and she held it to her face to stare at the emblem baring her number. Rachel growled lightly as she saw her reflection the the metal's glint. "This is unfair! I have to do everything and I don't get squat in return." She humphed as she laid the helmet off to the side, running a hand through her now free tresses. "I'm starting to wonder if any of this is worth it."

Deciding being moody wasn't going to solve anything, Rachel took a calming breath before tiding up the small mess she had created. After re-stacking the documents and grabbing a new pen, her fingers plucked the budget from the pile and set out to go over that next. But before she could make a single ink stroke, there was a light knocking catching her attention. She looked around puzzled before tracing the noise. It was coming from her door. She narrowed her eyes as she glanced at the clock. It was late and everyone should be home by now. Sure there were a few operatives who didn't partake in the festivities, but they stayed in the lower decks having their own get-together and they knew she didn't like to be bothered.

"I'm quite busy at the moment. Come back some other time." Rachel waited a brief moment to see if the unknown visitor would lose interest and go away, but the knocking never stopped. It even picked up in pace a bit as time dragged on. Her pupils snapped to a hidden compartment of her desk, assuring herself her emergency weapon was there. Feeling secure, Rachel cleared her throat and prepared for whomever entered. "Fine, come in."

She never once tore her gaze away as the metal doors hissed open, and as the person came in, her expression became more cautious. Into her office stepped a boy she had never seen before. A somewhat sharply dressed boy wearing a stark black tuxedo outfit. He walked stiffly into the light, seeming constricted by his dress pants, and his glistening shoes made loud clacks with every step. The boy didn't appear pleased with his attire seeing as he was fighting with the blue bow tie clutching around his neck. He just kept pacing forward until he stopped right in front of her desk, but still paid her no mind. Getting the tie off his neck was more important to him at the moment.

Rachel arched a brow at the strange boy, the only thing normal about him so far being his behavior. Because honestly, what kid in their right mind would actually _like_ wearing some sort of tie? Since he was obviously distracted, she used the opportunity to study his face. His lips wrinkled as he fiddled with his tie, and his violet pupils sparked with a mixture of concentration and annoyance. She studied his face, his combed back hair, but she still couldn't recognize him. She couldn't claim to know every single operative of the organization, but she at least had some idea on who the most of them were. But this kid…he seemed different. She just couldn't put a finger on it.

The blonde drummed her fingers against her desk in a rapt manner, getting impatient with the boy in front of her. When she heard him grumble, she coughed lightly to switch his utter focus to her. "Can I help you?"

"Wha?" The boy snapped his head up, hands frozen around his tie. He blinked and looked down at Rachel, before quickly lowering his arms and smiling. "Oh hey, nice to meet ya!"

"…Hello to you too." She spoke carefully. He seemed polite enough, but she still didn't know him and his attitude could always be some sort of ruse. She didn't recognize his voice either. "I don't think I've seen you before. Who are you?"

The kid grinned before offering his hand out. "Name's Henry." He opened his eyes and looked down to see Rachel giving him a questionable stare. Nervously chuckling, he reeled his hand back in when she never shook it. "Um, something wrong?"

"When I asked who you were, I was asking for your codenumbuh."

"My…codenumbuh?" The boy asked a bit conflicted. His eyes shifted a bit as he thought out his next move. Well, honestly he was going to come out and tell her who he was. But according to what he knew about her, she wasn't really in a cheerful mood at the moment and would probably try and boot him out. Maybe not the best idea just yet. He needed to at least talk to her. "Oh! You mean my _codenumbuh_. Heh heh."

"Yes," Rachel frowned a bit. "Let's have it."

"Sure! I'm Numbuh…Numbuh…" He paused for a brief second to think it over and said the first thing that came to mind. "I'm Numbuh 19." He stated proudly, but when Rachel began to glare at him, he sweated. " I-I'm Numbuh 19…forty, uh, six?"

"So you're saying you're Numbuh 1946?" Rachel questioned seriously, her expression on alert now. Without saying another word she turned to her terminal and typed with amazing speed. Once done a screen popped up with a list of all active operatives. She trailed down the list and let an amused look come about. "You sure? Because it says here there is no operative with the codenumbuh nineteen forty-six." She glared at the boy now ready for anything. "Care to explain that?"

"Uh…I…" Well darn, that certainly backfired on him. He should of just told her. Now what was he going to do? He gazed around the room anxiously, wondering how to get out of this mess, but then his eyes widened as he froze. Then Rachel could only become confused as he smugly grinned and motioned to her screen again. "Are _you_ sure? It's right there."

Rachel rolled her eyes as she turned to the screen again. "I'm not stupid, I know what I…Huh?" She blinked several times as he stared at the screen, mildly shocked. There _was_ an agent listed as Numbuh 1946. She didn't know what to think. She swore that wasn't there a second ago. "…Actually, you are on here. It says you're the new moonbase janitor."

"Janitor! Aw, I wanted to be something cool like a –" Henry stopped mid sentence before he could go any further. After a second he huffed and stared up towards the sky with a ruffled glare. "I mean, yeah. That's me. The _janitor_."

Rachel was too into the screen to notice any of his comments. Finally, she held her head and turned to Henry and surmised she owed him an apology. "I'm sorry about that. This stupid job is making me slowly lose my mind." The girl straightened her hair out before looking at his outfit once more. "Don't you think you look a bit too…spiffed up for a janitor?"

"Don't look at me! My mom did this. Wanted me to look my best and stuff." He whined as he crossed his arms and pouted.

"Right." Was all Rachel said. Sparing a glance down to her untouched paperwork, she sighed as she figured she had wasted enough valuable time already. "Well since I'm clearly still in here, just skip it. I'll clean up whenever I'm finished. Besides, shouldn't you be home?"

"I'm still on the clock." Henry replied as he regarded the girl. Deciding it was time to get serious, he looked around him until he pulled up a chair. After staring at her for a minute, he smirked as he relaxed in his seat. "And I could ask you the same thing."

"How so?"

"Really? Come on, it's the holidays! Christmas Eve and all that good junk. You get to eat all those sweet goodies, sing those carols about peace on Earth, and spend time with loved ones around the warm fire." He exclaimed as he motioned his hands about. "I thought this was to supposed to be the ultimate kid holiday on the calendar. Everyone else is at home, why aren't you?"

"Because I have work to do." Rachel muttered out as her pencil scribbled. "I fill out the proper forms and handle all the dull boring business type stuff no other kid wants to be caught dead doing."

"But you're missing out on tons of stuff every other kid dreams of doing. Like presents, sappy specials, building a snowman, drinking hot chocolate. Oh, and you can't forget about the cookies! Those are the…" Henry paused while counting off his fingers. His nose inhaled a deliciously sweet aroma that he could not ignore. He turned his head to the side, and spotted the source of the smell. His eyes increased in size as he saw the cookie tin, and he wet his lips as he tried to form a coherent sentence. "Hey…are those Christmas cookies."

"Yeah." Rachel answered without looking up. She paused for a moment, and peeked to see the boy staring at the tin longingly. She was about to say something, but grimaced as she read over the numbers on her paper. "Knock yourself out." After seeing how much they spent on candy in October, she wasn't feeling so hungry anymore. Besides, she had a few tucked in her pouch if she ever wanted any.

"SWEET!" Faster then a blink, the tin was suddenly within Henry's hold. He popped the lid off and grinned like he was in a toy store during an everything is free sale. Eager to indulge in the baked delights before him, he took one whole cookie and crammed it within his mouth. "Mmese mmph mreat!" He praised despite his mouth being filled to the brim. After he swallowed, he let out a pleased breath before remembering what he was doing. "Okay now, what was I talking about?"

"Telling me how much I was missing I believe." Rachel guided. The girl thought on the boy's words and let loose a wistful sigh. "It's not like I don't want to do all those things, but this is more important. Something I have to do. I'm the Supreme Leader, in case you've forgotten." She then returned to work as usual, hoping that would be the end of it. She was getting sick of having to tell everyone the same thing repeatedly.

"That's right." Henry agreed. "And since you're Supreme Leader, that means you can dictate some time to take off for yourself, right?"

"It's not that simple." Rachel frowned, the pressure of her pen increasing a bit. "I have to deal with all of this. I'm not going to clock out only to return to chaos because I didn't finish or set up something, or just have some disaster spring up the moment I'm within a shuttle then waste fuel and turn around. This whole thing would fall apart if I don't commit every part of my sole being into it."

Henry raised a brow as he took a bite into another cookie. "So the Kids Next Door would crumble into madness without you?" Rachel only gave him a stiff nod and he developed a hidden smirk at her answer. That information might be useful. "Wow, sounds like you have some job then."

"You have no idea." Rachel utter silently as she stopped writing for a moment. Her eyes drifted close and she attempted to gather some inner peace. "And sometimes…I wonder if I do. I never expected all this." She admitted as her hands slowly swung over her desk piled with files and other assortments.

"That sounds like regret," Henry spoke up as he plucked another cookie. He trailed it under his nose, teasing himself with the smell before eating it. "If it is, then I think it's weird."

"You think it's weird to have some regrets?"

"No. It's just that a Supreme Leader regretting their own position? That doesn't seem like a good trait to have." The boy shrugged. "Numbuh Zero didn't have any regrets. Two to the Second Power, One Hundred, all those guys and girls seemed confident." He really didn't know if what he was talking about was true, but anything to get a response out of the blonde. So far he wasn't getting anywhere. "Heck, didn't that Chad guy want to _stay_?"

"You're questioning _me_ because I have some doubts?" Rachel snarled out, enraged by the kid's snide insinuations. "What do you know? You're not stuck up here almost every waking hour. You still get to have something of a normal childhood. I don't! I have to sit here in this stupid office playing corporate head with little to know help at all!"

Henry only looked skeptic. "No one's offered to help? Stay behind so you wouldn't have to do it on your own?"

Rachel just rolled her eyes as she flopped back down. This guy was grating her nerves. "Does it _look_ like someone offered to stay?"

The boy just ate another cookie. "Just thought someone would."

"I think I would know if someone offered to help or not." After a bit more grumbling she lowered her head into her arms. She knew she had paperwork she could be doing. Knew it was all important. But she couldn't bring herself to right now. She was felt more downtrodden then she did back during the I.T. situation. She wasn't questioning her ability to lead, she was questioning everything she was being denied because she had to lead. She didn't get to watch Saturday morning cartoons. Didn't get to play around and dress up dolls. She didn't to fully be a kid because of her demanding duty. Didn't get to because as said before,

She was Supreme Leader.

"Why me?" She mumbled into the folds of her sweater. She slowly lifted herself up only to lean on the back of her chair for support. Her head fell back, her golden locks dangling over the back. She bored into the ceiling, and closed her eyes in contemplation. "Sometimes I wish I never got this job."

"Don't say that. You've got all this…" Whatever Henry had planned on saying never left his tongue as his mind began to fester.

Having never been Supreme Leader.

His thoughts wandered, and his grin grew as he nurtured the forming idea more and more. This…this could work. He would probably get in trouble for doing it, but it would get the job done perfectly. Henry chuckled to himself as he set the tin aside, standing up while rubbing his hands together madly. Yes, this plan would be great! It worked with that other guy.

Besides, why tell her when he could show her?

"Hey Rachel," Henry smirked as he leaned against her desk for support. "I think I got the answer to all your problems."

The blonde perked up, suddenly wary of the boy once again. "How do you know my name?"

"I get around." Henry smiled as he backed off. "But hear me out. I've got this idea. It helps me out, and helps you out. Makes everybody happy!"

"What are you talking about?"

"We're getting there, but I have to be sure." He poked around his left ear a bit before bending over. "I got this bad ear, so I need to make sure I heard right. You just said you wished you never got this job, correct?"

Having her own words thrown back at her caused her to shift uncomfortably. "Well, not exa –"

"Am I right, or am I right?"

She stuttered, but then huffed and figured lying wouldn't help. "Yeah, guess I did."

"You said that?"

"Yes."

"That you never got this job?"

"Yes." This time a bit more forcefully.

"Never became Supreme Leader?"

"Yes!"

"You _sure _about –"

"YES!" Rachel snapped, taking Henry by storm. The sharply dressed boy took a step back as the blonde heaved with anger in front of him. "I said I wish I never got this stupid job! I wish I could a kid like the ones I'm forced to look after! I wish I had my time back! I wish I never became Supreme Leader at all! Are you _happy_ now?"

It took a moment for Henry to regain his bearings. Once settled, the kid held a small smirk as he fiddled with his annoying tie once more. "Yep, and you will be to." He then crossed his arm and tipped his head forward, his violet pupils appearing to glow within the light. Rachel felt a bit odd. Like the two orbs staring at her held some far greater meaning she was failing to comprehend. "Because you, Rachel T. McKenzie, have just gotten your wish."

Any suspicion or danger she estimated the boy to pose immediately dropped as she blinked at him absurdly. "Excuse me?"

"It's just like I said." Henry shrugged as he began to circle around her desk. "Your desires have been acknowledged. Your wants stated. Your wish has been granted. See where I'm going with this? From this moment on, you're not the Supreme Leader. You're not apart of Global Command. You're just Numbuh 362 now."

Rachel was silent for a while after that. It was hard to gauge the emotion she was currently experiencing, for her face was just dead blank as stared at Henry. She didn't know how she should feel about this, about what the boy was claiming to have done. Should she be amused? It was a tad bit entertaining he was being so serious about this. Yes, she should probably feel amused and giggle. But no, he was expecting that. Expecting her to laugh so it would cement the joke. Well she wasn't going to laugh. Nope. She was going to frown and be ticked off about it. He would never see that coming.

"Hardy har har. Very funny." Rachel snipped out as her brows met. "If you're done having your fun, then please escort yourself out the door so I can get back to work."

"What work?" Henry ventured as he stopped back in front of her. "You don't have anything to do here. No paperwork or anything like that. You get to go home."

"Zero, you're worse then Numbuh 2." Rachel grumbled as she palmed her face. "Look, I'm not in the mood for this. Now for the last time, leave before I end up having you cleaning out toilets in the Deep Sea Lab."

"Geez, you try and please people and this is what you get." Henry mumbled indignantly. "Why are you mortals so hardheaded?"

"Oh. I'm a _mortal _now?" Rachel replied with her nose wrinkling. Patton had something to do with this lame joke. She just knew it. "What the heck are you supposed be then? A pixie?"

"Hah. Good one." Henry mumbled forlornly before shaping up. Now that all the cards were on the table, it was no point in keeping up fake appearances anymore. "I'm not some girly fairy thing! I'm your guardian angel." He had the decent to puff out his chest proudly as he tried to regain some dignity. "You seem to having difficulties lately, so I've been sent down to offer some…guidance. Get it?"

Rachel's eyes glinted dangerously as she glared at the so called 'angel'. But then, her anger dampened as her lids lowered. A wry smirk graced her lips as her finger rose up. "So you're an angel? My guardian angel?"

"More or less."

"Uh huh. And you've just made it so where I'm NOT Supreme Leader? Am I getting this right?"

"…You…still don't believe me. Do you?"

"Oh no no _noo_. I believe _completely_ you." Rachel mockingly waved off as she turned to sit back down.

"Your tone says otherwise."

"Oh you know me. I mean you should, right?" Rachel lightly chuckled before sorting out papers again, preparing to move on to inventory. "Well since you're my guardian angel, could you be so kind and go _guard_ the door? From the outside. After you've locked it behind you." Her voice lowered as she went on, and soon, its humors tint had faded away to irritation.

"Fine. Don't say I didn't warn ya." Henry twisted around to pick up the cookie tin. His eyes traveled from it, to Rachel and his look became torn. "Uh, can I take these?"

"If it'll get you out of my office, go nuts!"

"Thanks! I'll save you one, promise!" He clasped the lid on it's place and turned to leave the room. "Well, I'm gonna get outta these clothes. They're starting to itch like crazy. And for the record, this isn't YOUR office anymore."

"Of course it's not." Rachel mumbled as she searched for a pen. "While you're out, go to the sun and pick up some cheesecake from Frosty the Snowman for me. That would really hit the spot."

Henry only chuckled to himself as he strutted out of the door. Before going, he spared Rachel a look out the corner of his eye. "Word to the wise, the Supreme Leader doesn't like people in his office without permission."

Rachel's brow twitched as the door inched shut, Henry's smug look never faltering in the slightest. When all she could see was metal, she scoffed. "Idiot." She palmed a document to straighten it out, then neatly laid it out in front of her. She looked down ready to start writing but froze when she noticed something odd. This sheet looked familiar. In fact, she was dead certain she had already filled it out. But every line was blank, hadn't been touched. Almost as if she…

No. She would _not_ buy into this childish prank.


	2. Act Two

**~2~**

"Finally," Rachel groaned out tiredly as she put the pen down. Her hand gingerly took the sheet of document she bled ink over and pushed it into the out stack she had forming. With that finally taken care of, the girl leaned into her comforting cushioned chair and moaned at how her fingers pulsed, crying out for a break. "There's got to be a better way of going about this."

Several minutes had come and gone since she started filling out the order forms for the materials the tech department would require for constructing new state of the art 2x4 gadgets and weaponry. All Rachel knew was that they had better build something that could turn broccoli into chewy pellets for all the pain her hand endured for that. It was why she preferred to get those types of things out of the way first. It would be dealt with and she wouldn't need to fret over it later on. Apparently, she never filled it out. But she was sure she did.

She snorted. Thinking things like that was ridiculous. She would not fall for someone's shot at a Christmas prank.

As much as she tried otherwise, her thoughts went to Henry again. The so-called angel of her's. The boy claimed he had 'granted her wish'. That she was Supreme Leader no longer. Ha! The stupid boy had probably spent _way_ too much time on Rainbow Monkey island and went bonkers. Oh great. Now she was starting to sound like Fanny.

"I need chocolate. Now." Rachel drawled out as her hand reached around her desk for her mug. When she felt nothing, she snapped down to see her Doctor Time-Space mug no where in sight. "Hey! Where'd my milk go? Did that whack-job take that too?" She should've known the look in his eyes. He probably put on that little act to con her out of her milk and cookies. And it worked too!

"Some janitor. He cleans out snacks better then floors." The blonde quipped to herself miffed. First she had to stay here and do desk work, some kid comes in trying to take her for a ride, and now all her snacks were gone. This was turning out to be a pretty crummy Christmas. "What else is going to happen?" She knew a person should never ask that. But she didn't care. She dared karma to send her something else to deal with. Just to see what else she could be forced to gnaw through.

"Look, it doesn't matter if you think they're gross, you need to find those hamsters before they end up getting spaced! I'm not having anyone, hair or fur, biting it on this Moonbase on Christmas Eve!"

Rachel snapped her look to the door as a loud, male voice bounced off the walls. She blinked, wondering just how many people were still up here. Didn't they all go home? But despite that fact, her ears could pick up the steady stomp of heavy feet approaching closer and closer. She appeared confused for a moment before sneering. If it was that Henry kid again she was going to give him a piece of her mind. The door opened about the same time her mouth did, her throat preparing to spew up an insult. But as she noticed who was coming, the words got caught in her cavity and she just stood and stared.

In the door came Patton, Numbuh 60 of the Arctic Base. The boy didn't look different, yet at the same time he did. Instead of a puffy coat, orange mittens, or any other winter gear, the midnight haired boy merely strolled in with a leaf green long shirt, camouflage style. His tan pants had sharp military creases ironed into them and his combat boots were the same as always.

The blonde just didn't know what to say. Didn't even know what was going on. What was Patton doing here? Last she checked he was at his Grandma's house. Why wasn't he home? Why was he coming into her office? All these questions and more buzzed in her mind, but she for the love of her didn't know which one to go with first. She just stood on the opposite end, waiting to see what would unfold. She wouldn't have to wait long, for once Patton lowered his coca from his lips, he opened his eyes and instantly froze when he saw Rachel.

For a while, they just stood there. Staring. The awkward silence stretched on and on. Well, at least it did for Rachel. Patton seemed to always wear that strict general's face and that thousand yard stare. It was a serious gaze, even with that wet chocolate mustache the coca left on his lips. The girl didn't know whether to laugh, or point the stain out. Before she could make a peep, however, Numbuh 60 had decided that the quiet had gone on far too long. "Hello."

"Uh…hey?"

"Yeah." Patton addressed carefully as brow slowly trailed upwards. "Can I help you?"

Rachel blinked before regaining her ability to speak more then two words at a time. "I should be asking that. What are you doing up here, Numbuh 60?"

"And _I _should be asking _that_." Patton ricocheted back as his look got pensive. "What are _you_ doing up here, cadet?"

"What do you think I'm doing?" Rachel shot back as she crossed her arms. "And what have I told you about calling me that, Patton?"

"Okay, this is getting weird." The boy frowned as he took another sip of his beverage to calm his nerves. "Ignoring the fact you didn't address me properly, how in the Sam hill do you know my name?"

"What do you mean, how do I know your name? I've known your name since my inauguration, Patton." Rachel replied slowly, as if talking to some toddler. "Is this some joke? What are you going to do next? Claim not to know _my_ name?"

"Saves me the hassle of askin'."

"You can't be serious." Rachel groaned to herself. Suddenly, her eyes filled with surprise before switching to annoyance a split second later. "Of course! I knew you playing some trick on me!" She growled. "Well cut it out! I'm not in the mood for games, so you and 'Henry' better stop messing with me, Patton! That's an order!"

"You're getting too big for your britches, cadet." Patton grounded out, his voice raised a bit. "That's _Numbuh 60_ to you. You respect your superior officer! I should have you cleaning up the hamster droppings for that show of disrespect, let alone thinkin' you can order ME!" Once he was done, he sent his mug down on the desk and tucked his hands behind his back as he attempted to stand a bit taller. "Now I'm very busy, so state your codename and your business."

Rachel fumed as she fought the urge to rip her hair out. "What is wrong with you! It's me! Rachel! Numbuh 362! Stop joking around!"

"Numbuh 362?" Patton blinked as his look softened. That sounded familiar. His eyes glanced to the ceiling in thought for a second, but then he made a sound of acknowledgment as it came back to him. "Oh! Numbuh 362! You used to be the best spy in our ranks. What are you doing up here? Something you need?"

"Why do you keep asking that?" Rachel shouted. The fact he said she _used_ to be the best spy was not unknown to her, but that wasn't pressing at the time. She stored it away for later as she continued. "This is the Supreme Leader's office. MY office! Why else would I be up here?"

As if saying the wrong password, Patton's expression dropped as his look hardened once more. "This isn't your office, it's MINE!"

"_What?_"

"I am Numbuh 60, Supreme Leader of the Kids Next Door." Patton rolled out, deciding to be the uppity one now as payback. His eyes trailed over Rachel's form, and he became curious. "You wander out of the infirmary or somethin'?"

"Y-You're the…" Rachel trialed off before gritting her teeth. "You're not the Supreme Leader, Patton. I am!" Her arm snapped out to point to different parts of the room. Her hand started trembling, showing how much her frustration had built. "You see that desk? Computer? File cabinet? All MY documents, data, and files are in them!"

"No," Patton grumbled a bit as he forced her arm down. "Those are MINE. It ain't that hard to understand!"

"Stop doing that!" Rachel growled. Suddenly, her eyes caught sight of the colander fashioned into helmet on top of the desk which she knew was hers. "That helmet! That belongs to the Supreme Leader. Me! It has my number on it!"

Patton looked towards the helmet, and only crossed his arms as a highly skeptical look overcame his features. "Really?"

"Yes really!" Rachel frowned at the boy as she jerked the helmet up. Using her fingers, she twisted it around to her face and began reading the number off the emblem. "You see? The number on this symbol clearly says Numbuh 60…WHAT?" She did a double take, and couldn't believe what she was witnessing. The small orange rectangular emblem which held the two small samurai etiquette blades and her codenumbuh wasn't the same. It had been altered. The color scheme was now a forest green shade, and the number three hundred sixty-two had been replaced with sixty.

"But…how did you?" It didn't make any sense. It had been replaced. But how? Her helmet had been here with her all along, never leaving her sight once. How did it change? The shock clearly showed with her gaping mouth and wide eyes, and when Patton put a hand on her shoulder, she flinched a bit.

"Okay Missy, that's enough." The boy soothed out. The girl was apparently having some trouble, but he really needed to get back to work. "Look, how 'bout you go on home and rest? I gotta get my paperwork sorted out for when I get back so I can ship off myself."

Rachel stared at Patton's face a bit dumbfounded before glaring once more. This _had _to be some stupid joke. "You listen here Patton! I don't know how you did this, and quite frankly, I don't care. But I swear, if you don't drop this sick joke and start explaining yourself, I am going to put you on broccoli duty until you're thirteen!"

"Alright! I've had just about enough out of you!" The boy snapped. This cadet thought she could threaten him with such heinous punishment? "I've tried being nice, but this crud ain't gonna fly anymore! Now you got two ways of leaving this room. One, you walk outta here. Two, you walk outta here," He raised his foot in a show of seriousness. "With a boot imprint!"

"Enough games Patton! Stop fooling around and tell me what's going through your head! Because there is no way you are kicking me out of this office!"

* * *

"I can't believe he kicked me out of that office!" Rachel raged to herself as she stiffly paced through the maze-like halls of the moonbase. The blonde grumbled to herself as she rubbed at her hind, which currently sported the shape of a boot. She rubbed at her jeans in effort to mat it out, ease the slight pain, and try and do _something_ to ebb her own anger and confusion.

It just wasn't right. What had just happened was way to wild and crazy to think it had actually happened. Patton yelling at her, claiming _he_ was Supreme Leader. The whole confrontation just ending with him keeping his word, too bad his word consisted of solely giving her the boot.

Literally.

"What in world was he thinking?" She knew Patton. Well, at least she thought she knew him. While he tended to mess around with her and Fanny from occasion to occasion, he had never went this far for a joke before. Heck, if this was a joke, it was a really bad one. But why was she getting the feeling that wasn't the case?

"No!" Rachel scolded herself. She stopped outside the door to the main command deck and lifted her hands and lowered them as if expelling silly and useless notions out of her body. "I am not even going to let the thought that, that kid could be for real cross my mind. It's just ridiculous!" She reasoned with herself. Something was definitely up and she had to tackle it rationally. After straightening her sweater, she opened the door and stepped in the dome like room. "I just have to find somebody other then Patton. I only hope that there's…still…people…" The words came and gone as she leaned up against the railing. She looked to the main floor and surprise coursed through her veins like lightening. "What?"

Instead of a hollow, empty dome like she had been expecting, Rachel was greeted by the sight of dozens of kids walking around doing various tasks. It looked like a normal picture, some kids were at terminals typing away. Other were chatting lightly. And a select lazing few were running around playing games and throwing balls around. This scene shouldn't be too odd. It was almost like this everyday up here.

But she had sent all these kids home _hours_ ago. What were they doing here?

"What in the name of gum is going on here?" Rachel asked aloud as her eyes rapidly scanned the floor. She rubbed at her lids vigorously and looked again. They were all still there. "Why are they all up here this late?"

"Stand aside please! I need to get this mission specs to B-Wing right away!"

The nasally voice caught her attention, and Rachel twisted to the left to see Herbie waddling along carrying a stack of sheets in hand. Taking what she got, Rachel pushed off the safety railing and ran to the operative before he got out of sight, which was a pretty simple task. The blonde placed herself in in his path and held her hands up for him to stop. "Numbuh 65.3! Wait!"

"Sorry! Really busy here!" Herbie brushed off as he skidded past her. The boy then turned and hurried down the spiral stairs. "Got to get these specs in the system so the computer can assign the missions when the new year gets here!"

"Just hold on a second!" Rachel screamed out, her fingers reaching out to the boy. Growling to herself, Rachel ran towards the railing and her hand reached out to grab it. Using her agile prowess, she flipped herself over and went down towards the second floor. She positioned herself to land at the foot of the stairs, and the moment she landed was at the exact time Herbie reached the bottom. He yelped, dropping the papers in shock, but Rachel couldn't care less right now. "This is more important! What –"

"Look at what you made me do! Those were in categorical order!" The round boy exclaimed interrupting her. After calming down, he snorted as he bent over and began scrambling the sheets in his hands. "But I suppose it doesn't matter. It will take me, at most, two point three minutes to rearrange them. I'll still have twenty seconds to make it in time. But I don't have time to talk –"

"Make time!" Rachel sneered as she jerked the boy up by the shoulders. "I need someone to tell me what's going on around here! Besides, you shouldn't be rearranging anything at all. You and the others went back to Earth over two hours ago!"

"O-Okay, you're starting to scare me, lady!" Herbie gulped as the girl glared at him. Man, why did everyone feel the need to pick on him? "Please let me go. I wanna get this done and get home. Besides, Numbuh 60 will chew me out if I slack up!"

"Numbuh 60? Why should he matter? You're not under his command!"

"Of course I am. We all are! He's the Supreme Leader!" Herbie corrected as he rose a brow at Rachel. "Did you stumble out of the infirmary?"

"Not you too!" Rachel groaned as she suppressed the urge to shake him. "I'M the Supreme Leader! Numbuh 362!"

"Numbuh 362?" Herbie muttered. Suddenly his eyes filled with recognition. "Oh! Numbuh 362! You used to be the best spy in covert operations."

Rachel paused for a moment, before she snarled right in the boy's face. "Listen here, _Herbie_. I didn't get to go home, I sprained my wrist doing paperwork, my cookies got stolen by some idiot, and I was literally kicked out of my own office! If I don't start getting some answers, I swear on Zero's shades I'm gonna –"

"HEY! What's goin' on here?"

The two blinked at the Irish accent and looked to the side to see Fanny stomping up to both of them. Herbie was frozen at the fact the infamous Numbuh 86 was marching up to them, and Rachel was surprised to see another face who by all means should not be here. But before any of them could react, Fanny suddenly swiped Herbie out of Rachel's grip and held him up by his collar as she glared at him.

"This stupid boy giving ye trouble, lass?" Fanny growled out as she glowered at the operative in her hold. "Don't worry, I'll straighten 'im out!"

Herbie frowned at the redhead as he pointed to Rachel. "Are you _blind_? Notice the sweat and quivering due to fear? I'm clearly the one in need of assistance here, not her!"

"Shut it!" Fanny snorted in disgusted before offering Rachel an apologetic look. "Sorry about this nerd. The lazy idiot should be _doing his job_, instead of pickin' wee girls!" Herbie's head just dropped. Not even bothering to try arguing anymore.

"Numbuh 86! Thank goodness." Rachel breathed out in relief. Patton and Herbie may be in question, but she could always count on the redhead to give it to her straight. "Everything is just so weird, and nobody will even tell me what's going on."

"Aye, it really does get crazy during this time of year." Fanny nodded in sympathy. "Why don't ye check in with Numbuh 9-to-5? If ya ain't got any work ta do, yer free to go home."

Rachel blinked at Fanny's wording, and now felt a little anxious of how the Irish girl was talking to her. Her tone didn't sound as that of a friend's, it sounded more like a kind superior guiding a lost agent. "No, Fanny. I don't think you understand."

Fanny looked confused. "How do you know my name?"

"Fanny it's me. Rachel?" She asked motioning to herself. Anxiousness bubbled in the pit of her stomach, making her feel uneasy. "Numbuh 362?"

"Numbuh 362?" The girl muttered out like everyone she had questioned prior. But then suddenly, her face lit up and she dropped Herbie. The boy was forgotten as Fanny rushed up and took her hand, rigorously shaking it with starstruck eyes. "Numbuh 362! You used ta be the best spy ever! It's a great honor ta meet ya!" She then gasped as if remembering something. "Hey! You remember me, right? We used ta be classmates in the academy!"

Rachel stood dead still as Fanny shook her hand. After she let it go, she simply let he arm dangle down. The blonde didn't know what was right anymore. Patton claiming _he's_ the Supreme Leader. Kids still being at the Moonbase when they shouldn't be. And Fanny and Herbie only knowing her as the operative who 'used to be the best spy'. Her breath picked up a hitch, but she forced herself to be calm. "Numbuh 86, who…who's the Supreme Leader?"

"Oh, _that_ guy." Fanny scoffed a bit. "That'd be Numbuh 60. Don't get me wrong, he's a good leader. But he's still a stupid _boy_. Just not AS stupid."

Hearing the words out of Fanny's mouth just seemed to hit home for some reason. Rachel felt her hands shaking a bit, but not in anger. "No Fanny, I'M the Supreme Leader. Patton's just the Arctic Commander." She then rose a finger at the redhead as she took a step back. "A-And you're the Global Tactical Officer!"

"Wow. I'm just Head of Decommissioning, but ye really think I can be Global Tactical Officer?" Fanny beamed at one of her idols. But then her expression dropped as she rethought what the blonde just uttered. "Wait, did you say you're the Supreme Leader?"

"Yes!" Rachel yelled. "I've been Supreme Leader ever since Chad betrayed us!"

"She's nuts." Herbie muttered insultingly as he adjusted his glasses. "Everyone _knows_ that after Chad betrayed the Kids Next Door, the Supreme Leader was Numbuh –"

"Don't make fun of her!" Fanny growled as she slapped the rude boy upside the head. "She obviously hit her head a bit too hard while doing some super extra doubly important mission that would make YOU cry to yer mommy!" After giving the mission assigner an ear full, she stepped towards Rachel with a hand stretched out. "We'd better get you back to the infirmary, lass. Get some rest and –"

"I'm fine! Really!" Rachel proclaimed as she slapped her hand away. Looking around something, she stopped as she noticed all the kids still walking about around. Thinking of an idea, she put her fingers to her lips and let loose a high pitched whistle. All activity stopped and soon every kid was looking at her in wonder. "Hey, everybody! Who's the Supreme Leader?"

They all looked at her as if she was brain dead before answering in unison. "Numbuh 60."

"N-No! He's not your leader," She then pressed her hands into her chest as her look became desperate. "I am!"

The deck was silent as they all stared at the blonde. After a minute, it was broken by a small giggle and then a small girl jumped up and down in excitement. "Are we playing pretend? I love pretend! I wanna be an astronaut Queen of Mars dancing with the prince of Rainbow Monkeys!"

"Heh heh, yeah, and I'll be jolly ol' Saint Nick!"

"Ha! I can top that. I'm the one and only Yipper Showdown King!"

Soon the floor erupted into roaring laughter as younger operatives began playing games of pretend and the older kids made jokes at Rachel's expense. The girl herself slumped in defeat, not knowing what was worse. The fact they were all mocking her, or that they had all said Patton really was their commander. This…this had to be some dream. No. Not a dream.

This was turning into a nightmare.

"Alright, alright! ENOUGH!" Fanny shouted using the screeching banshee voice she was known for. Everyone covered their ears and the redhead continued as they all became silent. "We all gotta finish up everything so we can all go home! So stop lazin' about like some boy and do it!"

"This…this isn't right." Rachel mumbled to herself as she held her head. This couldn't be right. Couldn't be true. She couldn't understand anything. Finally, the blonde snapped as she threw her head back and let out her frustration in one shattering scream. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH EVERYBODY?"

Fanny jumped at the sudden screech and Herbie yelped and cowered. The redhead looked to the blonde who was shaking her head. The Head of Decommissioning looked a bit torn. She respected Numbuh 362, she was a symbol to girl operatives everywhere! But, if she kept acting this way, she was going to be forced to do something about it. Whether she wanted to or not.

"Listen, Numbuh 362. I don't mean ta be rude, but yer making a scene." She racked her brain, trying to think of a way to settle this without dragging the blonde away. "Is there uh, someone here with ya? A teammate or somethin'?"

"Oh yeah, she's with me."

Rachel stiffened as the voice entered her eyes. She slowly rose her head from her hands and shifted glanced over her shoulder at the boy who was coming up from behind. His clothing was different. A dark cerulean hoodie covered his torso, and his baggy leggings covered the tops of his sneakers. His hair was more unkempt and he moved around with much more comfort and ease. But those violet eyes, and the way he munched on the cookie.

The blonde glared as she recognized Henry. "You!"

"Sup." Henry replied as he suckled his fingers, savoring the cookie's taste. His eyes moved from Rachel, to the two operative behind her and greeted them with a nod. "Friends of yours?"

Fanny narrowed her eyes at the new boy. "Who are you?"

"Numbuh 1946, at your service."

Herbie's brows rose. "The janitor?"

"Yes," Henry deadpanned. "The janitor." The boy shook his head before smirking in Rachel's direction once again. "You look confused Rachel, feeling a bit out of place?"

Fanny looked between the two. Rachel face seemed to be fixated in a permanent glare at the dark haired boy. She couldn't blame her. The guy had a smug smirk, like he knew everything and he was oh so cool. Just like an idiotic male. Well she wasn't going to let him bother her idol! "What would Numbuh 362 want ta do with some stupid janitor?"

"I'll remember that next time you spill soda in your quarters." Henry smartly snipped as he snorted at the redhead. "But anyway, right now my job is to show Numbuh 362 around the Moonbase. Kinda like a tour guide. There's been some…_changes_ since the last time she's been up here." He quirked up a brow as he looked towards the blonde once again, figuring he had her now. "So whatddya say, Rach? Ready to take a little stroll?"

Rachel's look never lightened one bit as Henry went on, no matter what he said. She kept trying to eye him for some weakness, some flaw in his stance or tone of voice that gave him away. But his confidence never shook in the slightest. His form was relaxed as he awaited her answer. Her eyes narrowed as she spared a look to the rest of the deck. Answers. Those were what she was after at the moment, and Henry was making it pretty clear that _he_ was the only one who had them. The blonde couldn't believe it. Some random con-artist had backed her into a corner, and now if she wanted out of this, she was going to have to go along with his silly little game.

Whether she wanted to, or not.

"Fine." Rachel stiffly replied as she stood straight, fists clenched a tad. It was obvious she didn't want to, but she apparently had no choice. "I'll go with you."

"Gosh, you make it sound like such a bad thing."

Fanny and Herbie held indecisive looks (well truth be told, Herbie was far more concerned with his paperwork then Rachel, and really could care less of who the crazy chick went with) and nervously glanced between Rachel and her so called tour guide. Something seemed a tad off, but she had other work to do and really couldn't interfere unless the girl said different. "Are ye gonna be alright with him, lass?"

"Yes, Numbuh 86. I can watch my back."

"Of course ye can!" Fanny rapidly nodded. How stupid of her. No one could get the drop on _the_ Numbuh 362. The two strange kids began to walk back up the stairs, and before they could get out of sight, the redhead gave a frantic wave to one of her KND idols. "Happy Holidays, m'am! It was great meetin' ye!"

Rachel stopped halfway up the stairs, and glanced down at Fanny with a stricken look. The Irish girl's face was filled with excitement. Like she had just met some celebrity, and not a friend. "Yeah…you too." She then tore her look away, her hand trailing along the railing as she walked out of hearing. She could briefly making out Fanny saying something along the lines of 'I can't believe I met Numbuh 362!' before reaching the peak of the stair case. Rachel looked around to see this floor was pretty much empty, all the real activity was going on below. Her gaze wandered further down the catwalk and there was Henry, lightly strutting along waiting for her to catch up. With a frown settling back in, Rachel picked up the pace to get along his side.

"You freaked out, didn't you?" Was the first thing out of his mouth as she caught up with him. The boy only stuffed his hands into the pouch of his hoodie as the walked along the barren floor above all the happenings where no one paid them any mind. "Ya see, that would funny if it wasn't so old. You guys all act the same down here. But then again, I guess just taking my word for it makes it too easy. Heh, so typical."

"I've had enough of this." Rachel growled as she came to a stop. She held her ground, not moving an inch. She waited until Henry was forced to stop and look back at her. "Drop the act. Who are you, and what do you want?"

"I told you, I'm your guardian angel," Henry answered without messing a beat. "And I'm just here to give you what you want."

"I know! You've said that already, and I'm not believing one word of it. It's just some plot to mess with my head!" Rachel snapped out before she blinked. Wait. Head. That's it! Without a rational cause, her hands flew up to the sides of her head, and she dug into her scalp; looking like she was trying to find something and yank it right off.

Henry's eyes widened at her erratic behavior. "_What_ are you doing?"

"You can't fool me, Chester!" Was all Rachel said as she kept trying to pull at her head. "I'll get this stupid headband off! And once I'm out of this nightmare, I'm going to do something that puts me on the permanent naughty list!"

The angel boy rolled his eyes at Rachel's ridiculous actions. "You're not wearing a Happy Headband." She still continued for a few more minutes, and he found it somewhat amusing. Who knew that Numbuh Three Sixty-Two would act in such a manner. "You do know how utterly stupid you look right now, right?"

"It just doesn't make any sense!" Rachel muttered out, ignoring Henry somewhat. Either that helmet was on really tight, or something else was going on. "What's happening to me?"

"Geez, you're really making me work this, aren't ya?" Henry groaned as he loosened his limbs for one more grand explanation. "Okay, open those ears of yours, because I'm about to make this as crystal clear as I can possibly make it! You are NOT the Supreme Leader of the Kids Next Door anymore. I used my totally awesome powers to bend reality to suit your demands. I made the elements of space and time my…you know, and turned back the clock. I chatted up ol' Father Time himself and made it where you wussed out and didn't take the job! You didn't take charge after Chad tried to fry you all, and the next schmuck got stuck with it!" Once he was finished, he caught his breath and coughed into his hand as he composed himself. "Are you really gonna make me run that by you again?"

Rachel stared at the boy for moment. After contemplating, she held her head and sighed. "I knew I shouldn't have drank all the milk that late."

"Oh, come _on_! After what you go through daily, am _I_ really that hard to believe!"

"Yes! Because what you just said defies the laws of physics and reality!"

"We're in a high tech base built by kids, in a treehouse, on the _moon_ and you wanna talk to _me_ about physics?"

"Argh!" Rachel made a strangled sound as her fists grabbed bunches of her hair. And people wondered why it was so short. "That's…that's different!"

"How is it different? Just because you don't see me everyday?" Henry asked with a light tone. "You believe in what the Kids Next Door stands for. Believe in that fat guy who lives up north. Believe in the spirit of this holiday, and you don't see those. How am I different?"

"You…you're just…" Rachel fumbled, trying to come up with an intelligent and logical response that. But, she couldn't. Because, coming up with a logic response to this would be partially admitting she believed all _this_ was actually happening. And she didn't want to! Then she suddenly stopped, and stared at Henry again, who just stood there looking as same as ever. Finally getting an idea, she pointed at the boy with an air of victory. "You have to be wrong! B-Because I have solid proof I'm still Supreme Leader!"

"No you don't."

"Yes I do!" Rachel childishly rebuttaled as she dug around in her pockets. "My moonbase security card! It gives me access to everything up here!"

"You don't have a moonbase security card. You don't work up here."

"It's right…i-it was just…" Rachel stuttered as her eyes widened. Where was it? Her hands leapt away from that pocket, afraid to find out it was empty. She moved to another pocket to find something else. "My ID!" Rachel grinned as she pulled the card out. "It says –"

"Operative: Rachel T. McKenzie. Codenumbuh: 362. Cadet Next Door Class of 2000 Graduate. Age Eleven. Sector Q. Goes on and on like that, and says nada about you being Supreme Leader."

Rachel choked on her words as she realized he was right. But she would not give up. "M-My Global Command key –"

"You don't have one," Henry interrupted yet again. "No card. No key. No proper ID. You don't have any of that because you're not in charge anymore. Everything you obtained while you were Supreme Leader is gone now."

Rachel was slowly succumbing to the harsh truth, but still refused to see it. Suddenly, she snapped her fingers. "Harvey's Christmas cookies!"

"Gave those me, they're mine now remember?"

"No no. Not _those_. The ones I saved for my cookie break!" She answered as she dug into her pouch. "If everything was gone, then I wouldn't have them. But I do! Because they're right…" And once again, she found herself freezing in shock. She bent over and stretched her pouch out, shaking a bit when she saw it was empty. "T-they're…"

"They're gone." Henry finished for her. "Your brother only gave you those cookies because you were staying at the moonbase filling out paperwork. But since you no longer have any paperwork to do, you have no reason to stay up here. No reason for him to send you any cookies."

Rachel's hands exited her pouch and she leaned against the railing for support. Everything was gone. She had nothing on her person to prove otherwise. She wanted to say someone stole them. Say Henry pick-pocketed them when she wasn't looking. But she was always on alert, and he hadn't came anywhere near her. Besides, even without proof, everyone else's words and mannerisms spoke the same tale. Patton, Fanny, even Numbuh Sixty-Five Point Three. They all acted the same way. They all said the same thing. Every single one of them pointed to one conclusion.

She, by some sort of cosmic prank, wasn't Supreme Leader anymore.

Rachel was silent for a long minute after that. As if even thinking the sentence made it harder to believe otherwise. Her brown eyes looked up a Henry through her bangs. The boy just stood there, waiting for whatever she had to say. She then closed her, not believing what she was about to do. About to say. But, obviously trying to label it as a lie or some joke gone wrong wasn't doing anything but making her look like a fool. They said there were several stages of denial, maybe it she was finally at the acceptance stage.

Or she had completely lost her mind. That was in the air too.

"Say…say that _maybe_ what you say is true. That I'm not…you know what any longer." Rachel carefully began, frowning at how Henry's smirk returned. For an 'angel' he sure was a cocky one. "What's the point of it? Some sort of trick?"

"No tricks," Henry said sincerely. "You kept saying how being the commander kept you from doing so many things, right? How you got nothing out of it and it made you give up so much, how you couldn't be a kid. Well, I'm just giving you what you want. I gave you a second chance." The angel smirked as his arms folded across his chest. "I gave you your time and childhood back."

Rachel studied Henry with a contemplative stare until she lightly shook her head in negative. "It can't be that simple, nothing comes for free. What's the catch?"

"No catch. Not one you would care about from what I've seen." Henry shrugged as he turned, walking down the hallway once again. "I'd go to say you'll be quite pleased with the results."

"Why do I doubt that?" Rachel mumbled as she slowly followed behind, feeling as thought the boy wasn't finished with her just yet. "How do I know the Kids Next Door isn't in some state of disaster because I'm not, or wasn't, here to lead it?"

"Heh, well since I get the feeling you won't take my word for it, come and have a look for yourself." Henry responded as he glanced over her shoulder. "Shall we?"

Rachel only rolled her eyes as she fell in step with Henry. The two reached a door at the end of the hall and the metal doors opened automatically allowing them to pass. Once out, Rachel looked down from the catwalk to see yet another deck of busy children like always. Not much difference from the room she had just come from. Upon seeing them all working, she turned to Henry with a question ready to fire off. "Why are they still here working? Everybody went home hours ago." A dreaded look crossed her face as she recalled Patton militaristic work ethic and attitude. "Patton wouldn't force them to work on Christmas Eve, would he?" She only knew Arctic Commander Patton, not Supreme Commander Patton.

"Give him some credit. He's not _that _harsh." Henry eased with a wave of his hand. "No, everybody's still pretty busy because they never left for home. At least not yet. I rewound the clock a bit so we would be here earlier this evening so the world would be more awake and active. Much more to showcase that way."

"That so?" Rachel ask suspiciously. "What are you supposed to be 'showcasing' then?"

"You tell me," Henry tipped his head to the side motioning to the children below. "What do you see down there?"

Rachel took a second glance down over the railing, this time looking for something she didn't notice before. But nothing came to sight no matter hard she looked. "…Nothing. At least nothing out of the ordinary." She explained. "I just see kids working. Some on computers, some with papers." Suddenly she paused as her hand snapped out, catching a flying disc that had wandered up to her location. "Some with wisbees." She said lightly amused as she studied the toy in her hand.

"Hey, what's-your-face, a little help down here?"

The blonde only gave a ghost of a smile as she tossed the wisbee back to the kid below. But any trace of a smile disappeared as she heard Henry's chuckle. "I just see them doing what they're always doing. Classic daily Moonbase. Normal."

"Oh, so they're NOT panicking and about to fall into disarray? Huh, wasn't expecting _that_."

Rachel frowned at the angel, for his tone sounded sarcastic at the end. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"According to what you said before, the Kids Next Door would crumble into madness without you leading them. They don't look all that mad to me." He said as he looked down, before frowning at one boy who was petting his M.U.S.K.E.T like it was a kitten. "'Cept that guy, I would keep an eye on him."

"I didn't say that." Rachel mumbled as she tried to defend herself. Though after remembering her first conversation with the kid, she had to shamefully admit there was more truth to his words then she would care to admit. "Not…exactly."

"Whether you did or not, you've gotta see that the Kids Next Door isn't held together by just one kid, not even their Supreme Leader." Henry went on. "They've survived without you before, and they will after you're long gone. Even if some sole hero isn't there to save them, even if they're beaten down and forced into hiding; as long as there are kids, there will always be Kids Next Door."

Rachel looked off to the side, trying to come up with something to save face. "I know, but what about all I've done?"

"What _did _you do, exactly?"

"_Excuse_ _me_?"

"Hey! Hey! I didn't mean it like that!" Henry jumped as Rachel snarled at him insulted. Darn, there should be courses on how to choose your words right when talking to a girl. "I mean sure, you were there to lead during some big hitches, but uh, you were just kinda there because you _had_ to be. Other then leading like Supreme Leaders do, you really didn't play that major of a role in anything."

"I chewed my way through a twelve inch wall of fresh grown _broccoli _to stop Father from controlling the KND! With NO cheese! That doesn't qualify as _major_ to you?"

"But that whole situation didn't happen here." Henry said as he rose his hands up. "I.T happened while you were still in command, and you calling a game of Tag caused Father to end up taking your place. _But! _Since you were never the leader, I.T never happened." He then chuckled at his own wording. "Heh heh, see what I did there?"

"You're a _riot_." Rachel grumbled as she folded her arms. They had long since left the second command deck and now she was following Henry to who knows where. "I thought you were supposed to be making see why I would _want_ to go back to being Supreme Leader." Yeah, she just admitted she wasn't. But that didn't mean she couldn't classify it as some dream later.

"I just call 'em like I see 'em." Henry shrugged. "So, how are you holding up so far?"

"You have to ask?" Rachel moodily replied. "If any of what you just showed me is true, then I've just found out all my hard work and the sacrifices I've made don't mean jack! How do you _think_ I feel?"

"Pretty crummy, I'd imagine. Oh! That reminds me." Suddenly, he turned to where his back was facing her, and when he turned around to her shock he had a cookie tin in his hand. Like he just pulled it out of some hammer space. He popped the lid and took one out, where he proceeded to munch away on it. "Man you're lucky! My grandma couldn't light a match, much less bake such awesome cookies."

"AH HA!" Rachel suddenly called out as she recognized the tin as the one Harvey sent her. "I GOT YOU! That's the tin and cookies Harvey sent up! But I thought they were 'gone'. How do you explain that, Mister _Angel_?"

"Because they're mine." Henry said as if Rachel's shouts and accusations didn't even faze him. "You willingly gave me these cookies before I granted your wish, so they weren't yours anymore and I got to keep them." He swallowed the last bit, and gasp delightfully as the tin suddenly disappeared into thin air. "Ah, isn't the power of giving oh so sweet?"

"I give up." Rachel moaned, not even bothering to strike up an argument. She hadn't been having a good track record as of late. "What else are you going to subject me to before this is finally over?"

"Hmm, let me consult my schedule." His hand went up to stroke at his chin as his eyes trailed around in thought. "Let's see, I granted your wish, you went through your little denial period, and we just finished up discussing how much the Kids Next Door has, or rather, _hasn't_ changed without you." He then smiled as the walked under the next door. He looked around to notice the busy hanger bay and grinned to himself. "So I think we're pretty much done up here. Right on time too."

"What? That quick?" Rachel asked mildly surprised. "We're finished?"

"On the Moonbase, but you've still gotta lot to see." Henry smiled as he turned to the large window, smiling down at the glowing blue hue of Earth way down below. "I've given you your freedom back. You're not bound to stay up here anymore. You get to go home."

"Home?" Rachel repeated as she walked past the angel to gaze out the window herself. Supreme Leader or not, she hadn't been back down on Earth in over two weeks. Despite her cynical and snarky attitude about the whole mess she was entangled in, the prospect of going back planet side was very appealing. Enough get her heart beat pumping in anticipation. But then she became serious once more. "After what I've seen so far, I have to wonder what could possibly be waiting down there."

"I'm sure it'll be enjoyable." She heard Henry speak behind her. "I've released you from that boring job, and now you get to go down and have fun on Christmas Eve like any other kid." Even though she couldn't see it, she could hear the smirk in his voice. "Just like you wanted."

Rachel said nothing, opting to stare a bit longer. But after breaking her trance she closed her eyes as she sighed. "Well then, how are we getting down there?" She was met with silence, which caused her to frown. "What? Got nothing smart to say?" She opened her eyes and turned to face the boy. "Why won't you…" Her form then froze as saw no sign of Henry. He was gone again. "Hey! You're just leaving me here?" Again, no smug voice greeted her, and she grumbled. "Some guardian angel you are!"

The blonde then wandered back out to the center of the hanger, many other operatives passing around her. But no kid was the one she was searching for. After a short few minutes, she gave up and focused on the current situation. Apparently she wasn't Supreme Leader anymore, Patton was, and other operatives she knew during her reign only knew of her as that girl who 'used to be the best spy'. Wasn't that peachy.

She then thought over what Henry had said, and what she had been shown so far. Honestly, nothing had really changed as far as she could see. Everything was being handled fine up here under Patton's leadership, and that was something she couldn't question. The boy had a strict doctrine, and made sure everything was ship-shape. But he also would never work kids to the bone…well actually since he used to train cadets, that was kinda his job. Okay scratch that last part, he would never ask an operative to do something he couldn't do. Yeah, he was fair.

But still, that wasn't the complete point. As far as she could see, nothing had gone majorly wrong in the Kids Next Door now that she wasn't leading it, at least according to how Henry implied it. The real stickler was that they had even been spared some of her royal screw ups. Because she never became Supreme Leader, Father never did. Which meant his plan to transform the KND Branch system in the largest broccoli farm and force feed it to kids never came to be.

So what did that mean for her then? What was any of it even worth it? Every command she ordered, every task she performed, every act she did in service to her duty had been erased and it seemed none of it mattered. What was that supposed to imply? That her reign didn't really amount the anything? It was like all the paperwork she filled out and all the extra hours she squeezed in didn't really count. As long as someone just as qualified, like Patton, was around, it appeared that the job would get done no matter who did it. And Henry was right in a way. Other then taking the job when no one else would and leading them, she hadn't done anything life changing. She hadn't brought the KND back from the dead like Numbuh Zero. She wasn't the first girl to be Supreme Leader like Numbuh Two to the Second Power. Some job the angel was doing. All she had seen was that her work didn't seem to carry any weight.

Or, maybe it was something else. There had to be more to it then that. No matter who was Supreme Leader, the job and title should never be taken lightly and never too seriously or one would get overwhelmed…Wait, was that it? Was that to show her that she didn't need to take her duty so seriously twenty-four seven? And not treat every little problem like it was then end of the world?

_'Not that it matters. Nothing I do means anything now.' _Rachel mused to herself as she pushed thoughts like that aside. Then she blinked and corrected herself. '_Oh, my mistake. Nothing I _did _means anything now_._'_ She thought sarcastically. She was supposed to be enjoying her childhood should she? Well she didn't see how she could up here. Henry apparently wanted her to go back on Earth.

Too bad he left her without a _ride_!

"How am I supposed to get home?" She mumbled to herself. She wasn't Supreme Leader, so she just couldn't hop in any random ship she pleased. Irritated, Rachel glanced to the sky thinking Henry was somehow looking down on her, laughing. "Well? What now?"

"Numbuh 362! There you are!"

Rachel blinked at the male voice. It wasn't Henry, but it sounded familiar at the same time. Curious, Rachel looked in the direction it came from and was slightly surprised to see another kid marching up to her. The dark skinned boy was bundled in a bright yellow winter coat, which wasn't odd given the season. He kept coming up to her, never stopping and his amused smile never leaving. "Heh, they weren't fooling around when they called you the best spy back in the day. Make sure to use those hide and seek skills next time we're on a mission why dontcha?"

_'Why does everyone keep saying that?'_ Rachel sighed a bit. She regarded the boy again, but a name still wasn't coming to mind. But it was on the tip of her tongue for some odd reason. "I'm sorry, have we met before?"

"Hah. Very funny, Numbuh 362." The boy frowned at what he thought was a bad joke. He then shook his head and pointed over his shoulder. "Now come on, we're fueled up and we got to back to the treehouse. I don't know about you, but I rather avoid Numbuh 359 whining about missing the Yipper special."

"Numbuh 359?" That codenumbuh. Why the heck she feel like she knew that operative? Right before Rachel asked why this kid was asking her to come back to his treehouse, it hit her like a speeding C.O.O.L.B.U.S. Numbuh Three Fifty-Nine was the Diversionary Tactics Officer of Sector Q. That meant the kid in front of her was, "Numbuh 361!" Indeed it was. Numbuh Three Sixty-One was the Sector Leader of Sector Q.

He was the leader of _her_ old sector.


	3. Act Three

**~3~**

_'This…this is too weird.'_ Rachel thought to herself as her hands fiddled mindlessly with the beeping terminal switches before her. She didn't tamper with anything, she wasn't really required to. She just had too keep her eye on that small radar blinking quietly every few intervals. It was what she had been ordered to do. Her. Being _ordered_ to do something. She never imagined that day would be upon her again. But her she was, whether she fully believed it or not. Though after the trails she had endured so far, she wasn't sure _what_ to believe anymore.

Her hand flicked upwards to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear and she found herself turning her seat lightly to gaze upon the small area around her. She had left the moonbase not too long ago, and she was no longer in the massive lunar treehouse. No. Now Rachel, new not-Supreme Leader, was one of five passengers aboard the flying S.C.A.M.P.E.R of Sector Q. _Her_ Sector Q.

It had been so much of a shock. She hadn't seen any of them in what seemed like a gazillion years. When she was reassigned to Covert Opts to gather intelligence on the new possible threat of Father at the time, she came to the conclusion that she wouldn't be seeing them again. And she was right. Or now light of current events, she was wrong. It was still way too confusing. But even so, once she had their names in her mind, she found that remembering her old teammates came quite easier then expected.

There in the chewed out lawn chair that had been refurbished into a captain's seat was the leader of Sector Q, Numbuh 361 himself. The pudgy African American boy was in a slightly relaxing position as he oversaw everything that went on around him, like any adequate sector leader. But seeing as they were all officially off duty tonight, he was more lax in all his actions. In fact, at the moment he had one leg hiked over the other while flipping through some superhero comic book. But Rachel remembered his secret obsession. Numbuh 361 was a sappy romantic at heart. He probably had the latest Rainbow Monkey Love Novel hidden behind the comic right now.

Looking past the leader, Rachel looked towards the front of the ship to see the almost pale skinned boy in a green jacket manning the wheel. It was Numbuh 359, the Diversionary Tactics Officer and the team's fill in pilot. Rachel remembered him mostly for his conflicting attitudes when it came to his ways. The kid was a careful pilot. Double checking to make sure they had enough fuel, and never doing anything risky when it wasn't needed. But when he was needed to create a distraction, he would take wing and go wild. His most basic strategy was just ramming into the enemy head on most of the time. And another interesting bit of information was his love of the Yipper series, his passion for the trading card franchise almost matching a certain Asian's obsession for stuffed dolls.

Shifting her attention to the side, the blonde studied the form of a tanned girl bobbing her head to her mp3 player. Numbuh 358 was of Spanish decent and served Sector Q as main time Nurse, part time Hand-to-Hand specialist. The purple sleeved girl thought it would be quite handy to know how defend yourself and patch up if things got out of hand. A bit of information that Rachel could never forget about was that 358 loved music. She had big dreams of becoming a professional singer. Too bad she was better at carrying a first aid kit then a tune, or maybe that was a good thing.

Lastly, Rachel memorized the other girl off to the side, writing away in a math workbook. The freckled platinum blonde, Numbuh 360 was one the biggest math whizzes she knew of, and was quite handy with 2x4 technology. Her fellow blonde could think up the correct measurements for plywood, and ration out even amounts of ammo no problem. The only quirk the girl had was that she wasn't too difficult to irritate and her voice dipped into the southern twang of her hometown when she was really ticked off.

Yes, even after all this time, Rachel still recalled her old team and some bits about them all. Fond times weren't too hard to think up, and it saddened her at how they seemed to just fall out of touch after she left for the Moonbase. Global Command had praised her with how much talent she had shown, even back in the academy. She never thought she would get so caught up in it and move forward nearly forgetting about the sector she came from. She had to be honest, she had really forgotten about them after she became Supreme Leader.

But now, she wasn't Supreme Leader anymore. Zero, she got tried of that sentence, but she now had to take that major piece of intel into account with everything she did now. It was part of the reason she allowed Numbuh 361 drag her back to the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. It had all been one huge daze up until this point. The fact her old sector leader just walked up out of nowhere and all but ordered her to get her butt on the ship had stunned her. She didn't know why she didn't put up any real protest. She didn't even know why she was here. She was sure _someone_ knew but that particular person was probably to busy enjoying his cookie break. Jerky angel.

Rachel let loose a huff of tense breath as she turned back to her screen. Numbuh 361 had told her to watch radar in case any adults tried to surprise them, just like she used to having been the Stealth Tactical Officer and all. But she _hadn't_ been with Sector Q in ages, why now? Finally her curiosity became too much and she opened her mouth to speak, but then the S.C.A.M.P.E.R shook lightly effectively stopping her questions. The all of a sudden, Numbuh 359 dusted off his hands in pride as he turned to face them all.

"Ladies and germs, we have now reentered atmosphere, and will be home in a snap." The pilot chuckled as he held his palms up. "No applause is necessary."

"How convenient, I wasn't going to give ya any." Numbuh 360 uttered as she flipped through her workbook. "Now focus on getting us back to the home."

"We're all excited about Christmas too, Numbuh 360." Numbuh 361 spoke out as he lowered his comic. "Don't sweat about it too much."

"I don't see how she could. I bet the best thing she's looking forward to is a graphing calculator." The pilot snorted before grinning. "Now Yipper Special Tactics Four? THAT'S a gift worth drooling over! Man, I can't wait for tomorrow morning!"

"You sure you're on the right list this year?" Numbuh 361 asked with a bit of a teasing frown. "I wouldn't exactly call wrecking eleven ships on purpose, nice."

"It got the mission done, didn't it? I think I should get like, extra stuff for bringing the hurt on so many adult jerk-wads."

"~_Ooooh!~_" Numbuh 358 suddenly jumped up. The girl was apparently into the song she was listening to and held her small hot pink player to her lips like it was some sort of microphone. Everyone in the S.C.A.M.P.E.R was forced to cover their ears as the rocking girl screeched out. "_~I'm your biggest fan! I'll follow you until you love me! Papa-Paparazzi!~_"

"DANG IT!" 360 yelled out as she lost her concentration. Glaring at the still singing girl, she growled as she shook her fist violently. "HEY! Lady Blah Blah! Y'all better shut yer trap 'fore I come over there and poke yer face!"

"Qué?" Numbuh 358 questioned as she heard something other then the lyrics. She pulled one headphone out and looked around, and when she saw the growling Numbuh 360, she just waved it off. "Geez, girl. You really need to unwind and relax. Chill." Suddenly, she smirked as she switched to another song and song it out horribly as well. "_~AND JUST DANCE!~_"

The platinum blonde tossed aside her workbook as she kicked herself out of her seat. She stomped over to the dancing girl and put a halt to her flow by swatting the small musical device away. "You're lookin' rough, Miss Tone Deaf!"

"Hey! That was from my hermano!"

"Okay you two, cut it out." Numbuh 361 intervened before things got out of control. He hopped down between the girls and addressed the team's math whiz first. "Numbuh 360, I've already told you about maiming fellow operatives." The girl just huffed as he turned to the other with a hesitant look. "And 358, uh, maybe you could sing a _bit_ more quietly. Or to yourself." His eyes then shifted as he thought about it clearly. "…or not at all."

"Aw man," The Spanish girl moaned she bent over to recover her mp3. Once in her she jumped back into her seat and began preaching of how they were suppressing her talent. "Why you guys always gotta be bringing me down? You're harshing on my passion. My life. Mi alma!"

"And you're harshing on our ears."

Rachel was silent throughout the whole exchange, yet she couldn't help the small smile tugging on her lips. This was just like it always was. Numbuh 360 snapping on 358 for singing badly. It was just one of those things that never got old, and even though she had no idea why she was here to see it, it didn't stop her from enjoying it. This was probably the first time she truly smiled all night.

"If it helps, Numbuh 358," Rachel began timidly, feeling the need to include herself in the conversation. "You sound much better then last time."

The brown haired singer blinked a moment before she beamed with extreme pride and joy. "See! See! I am fantastic!"

"Heh, she's just being nice, pop-star." The Sector Q leader chuckled. "That or she has the most weirdest taste in music in the history of ever."

"Heh, Rachel's weird alright." Numbuh 360 added in with a smirk, her accent being forced down now that she was somewhat calm. "Like back up at the Moonbase. Fooling around and not knowing where the heck she was." She giggled, amusing her teammate's behavior was a joke. "Like right now! She's acting like she hasn't seen us in years or something! Ha ha ha!"

Rachel sheepishly looked down as the three broke out into light laughter. She really hadn't seen them in years. At least it was that way to her. But a lot of had changed, who's to say this wasn't one of them? Did her new position as not top commander have something to do with her team picking her up? It was like they were treating her like she never left them. Her eyes widened as she thought that out, and her head snapped to them about to ask. But once again, she was interrupted by Numbuh 359.

"You wanna know what's _really_ weird? 358's butchering of all things musical has put me in the mood for some real tunes." The pilot then turned back to his panel, flipping with the radio switch as the Spanish singer slumped her seat defeated and embarrassed. "There's gotta be something on the local station."

Numbuh 360 rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms. "If it's Christmas songs, then just turn it off. My lousy uncle would NOT stop playin' Santa Baby earlier today!"

"Shush!" The pilot surprisingly waved about as e picked up something on a stray channel. "I thought I heard something!" The boy kept fiddling with the radio until he found what he was looking for. After a few more attempts, he stopped on a station that went on about something holiday special going on."

"…_you heard right folks! The new Yipper: Destroyers of Elbiux card tin is 75% off! 75% off! So come on down to the Hugiplex Shopping Center and take part in this crazy last minute Christmas Eve sale! It's first come, first serve, so you better run, run, run before you miss your chance!"_

Everyone, even Rachel, froze as the announcement finished before playing some holiday tune. But it went unnoticed the children took a cautious glance towards the boy in the cockpit. A wicked gleam entered the kid's eyes as the words played about on his mind, and then he suddenly sat up straighter, a grin slowly working it's way up. "S-Seventy-five percent?"

"H-hey man," Numbuh 358 calmly spoke out as she gulped a bit. "No need to go loco…"

"Seventy-five percent?"

"Oh no!" Numbuh 360 yelled out as she slashed her arms up and down trying to dissuade the boy from his thoughts. "Don't you do it!"

"Yipper cards at _seventy-five_ percent!"

"Quick!" Numbuh 361 called out, acting if it were some life or death situation. Rachel knew what was going on. Numbuh 359 always got crazy whenever Yipper was involved. Thinking swiftly, her nails dug into the stool of her chair as she hung on, and the other three tried to return and hook their seat belts in time. "Evasive –"

"HERE I COME!"

At the pilot's shout, he yanked down on the yoke with all his might, and the ship suddenly rocketed forward at trail-blazing speeds. Numbuh 360 lost her footing and was thrown into the back wall while the nurse and sector leader clutched their seats and hung on for dear life. Rachel had wrapped herself around the chair completely and she clenched her eyes shut as force and gravity tugged on her strongly. Then a surprising hitch came when 359 went into a sharp turn and the S.C.A.M.P.E.R rolled upside down for the briefest of moments. The blonde lost her holding and went into the air. The numerous flips and barrel rolls of the ship caused her imitate hovering, before it started to slow in speed. Before she fell, Rachel shot her hands out and grabbed into her seat, and as the S.C.A.M.P.E.R jerked into a stop, she managed to flip herself back into a sitting position perfectly. The only side effect was the massive dizziness that followed.

However, the rest of Sector Q wasn't quite as lucky. As soon as Numbuh 359 stopped, inertia started. Numbuh 361 and Numbuh 358 slammed into the back of their seats, while Numbuh 360 went flying towards the front of the ship. Just as Numbuh 359 bent over to unclasp his seat belt, the math whiz screamed as she flew over him, not stopping until she smacked into the glass of the windshield.

"Uggh." The girl moaned as she was momentarily sticking to the glass, her face and skin mashing up where ever it made contact. The southerner was about to snap again until she noticed a sign out front. "Hey! They're having a sale on graphing pap-AAH!" Her stick choose that second to unstuck and she yelped as she fell to the floor.

"Who cares about stupid school stuff?" Numbuh 359 frantically responded as he leapt out the door. He landed down on the concrete with a grin and took off like a bullet for the nearest entrance to the packed mall. "Gangway!"

Numbuh 361 mumbled as he picked himself off the floor. The boy looked back to see Rachel and Numbuh 358 stable, so he stepped over to the fallen Numbuh 360, gently lifted her off the deck. "Okay new rule; nobody even _think_ of getting up out of their seats when 359 is at the wheel."

"I hear ya." The platinum blonde mumbled as she got her bearings. "So what now?"

"Hmm," The sector leader mused as he glanced to his watch. "Well we got plenty of time before we gotta get home. How 'bout we head on in there and make sure 359 doesn't get mugged?"

"Oh yes!" Numbuh 358 cheered, bubbling with anticipation all of a sudden. "That new album I want is out!" The girl hurried out the bay door running in after her teammate. Numbuh 360 rolled her eyes, but smiled as she followed out a tad more slowly.

Numbuh 362 nodded to himself as he saw everyone go out. He took a step out into the chilly night, but stopped as he looked over his shoulder. There in her seat was Rachel. Just staring off into space. "Hey, Numbuh 362? You comin' or what?"

"Huh?" Rachel looked over at the Sector Q leader before shaking her head. "Uh, yeah. I'll meet you inside." The kid held her gaze for a minute longer, but only shrugged as he went about his way. Once he was gone, Rachel frowned to herself as she got down from her stool. "Talk about a roller coaster ride."

The blonde stepped out of the S.C.A.M.P.E.R into the cold winter night, and shivered at the climate change. The temperature on the Moonbase was always the same comfortable dial all year long, and stepping back into Earth whether after so long took a while to get accustomed to. Pushing that thought aside, Rachel gazed out to the parking lot before her. Hundreds of people walked along. Adults scuttled in and out in a hurry to get last minute shopping done, and some children played on the amassed snow banks on the edges of the sidewalk for amusement. It still amazed her how crazy the population seemed to get when Christmas time came rolling around.

But back to the matter at hand. Rachel stood outside the sloppily parked S.C.A.M.P.E.R as she tried to figure out her new change in scenery. She wanted to know why her old team decided to just show up now. They never did before. That isn't to say it bothered her. Well sure, it bothered her they kinda just dragged her out here, but she had nothing else to do now. But the main point was, she was actually _glad_ to see them again. She couldn't even begin to recall the last time she had met up with any of them after she got promoted. As awkward as it was, it felt good to see the four act as they did. To see 361 try to be peacekeeper, 358 trying to sing, 360 threatening to mute her, and 359 going wild over the idea of new Yipper cards. Well it scared the crud out of her, the ride over here had been a little exciting.

Rachel's frown lightened a bit as she thought of her sector. Okay, she it was safe to admit that she missed them. That was normal. What wasn't normal is how they just showed up out of nowhere. Why was that? Could someone explain it to her?

"Oh sweet mercy," Her ears perked up at the voice, and she looked behind her to see Henry stumbling out of the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. The angel had just randomly popped up, but this time he didn't look anywhere near as smug. He looked pathetic as he hobbled down, clutching his stomach and his face looking a sickly green. "Sugar cookies and turbulence just don't go together like they used to. Ugh."

Rachel only rose a brow, feeling somewhat creeped out about how he could just show up out of nowhere. "What were you doing?"

"Cut me some slack. I've never flown before and I wanted to see what it was like." After he finished, his stomach made a gurgling noise and he cringed. "But if it's anything like _that_ particular experience, I don't feel all that motivated anymore." The wind suddenly blew around them harshly, and Henry glared up at the night sky. "I was _kidding_! Learn to take a joke!"

"So you were there the whole time?" Rachel asked, her eyes following him until he was down at her level.

"Course I was. I'm your guardian angel, it's in my job description. I was the reason you didn't go flying like everyone else. I'm there whether you know it or not." He muttered out as he leaned against the ship for support. His eyes peeked upon as he looked down, and his face scrunched up as he noticed something. "But I can't do squat about the ticket you guys are gonna get for parking in the handicap zone."

Rachel ignored that as she frowned at the angel. "Then why didn't you make yourself visible? Why didn't you say anything?"

"Didn't wanna intrude on the moment." Henry shrugged as he took a relaxing breath. His queasiness died down, and he felt some of his former kick returning. "Enjoy yourself, by the way?"

"I…" Rachel started before remembering her question. "What's going on? Why did my old team just show up and bring me here?"

"Well for starters, they're not your _old_ team. They are your team. They picked you up because you're a member of Sector Q."

"How does that work?" Rachel inquired bewildered. "Even if I'm not Supreme Leader, I got promoted to Covert Opts on the Moonbase."

"That you did. And after the new Supreme Leader took charge, you kept working for them. Then one day you were assigned this one mission with your old team as back up. It all went off without a hitch, and it made you realize how much you missed being part of a sector instead of being all on your lonesome on some three day stakeout." Henry explained, his air-sickness gone and back to his old self-proclaimed charming self. "Apparently the Supreme Leader was pleased with the results, and you resigned form Covert and were allowed back into your old position as Stealth Tactical Officer of Sector Q."

The blonde girl absorbed the bountiful information she had just been presented. The actions of her teammate's made sense now. They acted that way because to them, she was a part of Sector Q and had been for quite some time now. Rachel blinked a few times as she tried to get a grasp on all of it. "So you're saying I'm…just another agent out in the field?"

"Yep." Henry nodded. "Exactly what you wanted, a life of diminished expectations and to be free from that office. The only thing you have to worry about nowadays is the mission alarm sounding off. Other then that, no paperwork, and no worries." Henry then grinned some more as he leaned forward. "You also get a fine gaggle of characters to call friends. Am I doin' well so far?"

"Friends?" Rachel worded out as if the term was new to her. Of course it wasn't. She's had friends before. It's just that she never found the time for any of them after she took office, and then by that point she could only claim a small few as acquaintances. But now it was different. Not only did she have teammates again, she had friends again. Now more curious then ever, Rachel glanced back to the mall. "Just how close are we?"

"You can go find out if ya want. It's Christmas Eve and you're not Supreme Leader. Shouldn't you be dancing with glee?" Before he could say another word, his stomach suddenly started up again, and this time he groaned as it forced him to bend over. "Ooooh."

"Um, are you alright?"

"No, this is just how we angels express utter _joy_." Henry deadpanned his face contorted. "Listen, you go on ahead. Have a good time. If you need me, I'll just over by that fine specimen of garbage can over there." Without another peep, Henry covered his mouth as he ran towards the aforementioned can.

Rachel watched the boy toss off the lid and dunk his head in; grimacing when she heard a disgusting heaving noise. Looking back towards the mall, she slowly stepped away from the scene and fully turned to enter the large building. She was intent on finding her team, and see what else the night had to offer.

* * *

Inside the mall, Numbuh 358 lightly swayed to and fro as the music drummed within her ears. She took in some air, but then stopped as she remembered she was advised not to. Numbuh 361 had ordered her to never sing in public, which she could not understand. Just because her team didn't love her beautiful voice didn't mean the rest of the world didn't. But as the beat picked up in momentum, she found she could not contain herself anymore. But luckily before she could utter one note, she spotted a familiar shade of blonde and orange carefully stepping in past the automatic doors.

"Numbuh 362!" She greeted as ran to meet the girl halfway. Rachel's surprise went unnoticed as the dark haired operative rushed up to her. "Finally! What was taking you so long?"

"Uh, bathroom?" Rachel blinked, then rolled her eyes at her lame excuse. But Numbuh 358 seemed too engrossed with her mp3 to even care. "What are you waiting near the door for?"

"For you." The girl answered. "The others told me to so you would know where to go. And so you don't, how you say, get lost?"

"Right! Of course." Rachel agreed once it clicked. It made perfect sense, going in a mall looking for somebody alone on Christmas Eve wasn't really the brightest idea. She then rose her eyes around her and looked all over to lobby. It was packed tight and all the adults and children seemed to mix and blend into one massive being. Unless they knew exactly where they were going, she didn't see how they could find anybody in this crowd. "So where are the guys?"

"They're near the center where everybody is waiting to see Santa. That's where we're waiting for Numbuh 359." Without further delay, the girl grabbed Rachel's wrist and eagerly tugged her along. "Come on!"

Rachel decided it would be best not to fight it and let the girl drag her along. It wasn't like she was leading her off a cliff. The two female operatives pushed and plowed through the masses, twisting around corners and using their small frames to duck underneath adults' legs until at long last, they made it to the center of the mall. The blonde looked up in wonder, not remembering the last time she had been here. The whole center was shaped like some large auditorium, even complete with the dome like glass ceiling. Small outlets selling all sorts of wares circled along the walls until they broke off into passageways leading to other parts of the mall, and there smack dab in the middle, the floor was dressed up like the North Pole. Fake fluffy snow, cut out reindeer, and giant candy canes weren't far from common as the line stretched on for what seemed like miles of kids waiting to see the fake mall Santa.

"They really got festive this year." Rachel mumbled as she stared oddly at the sight. Tearing her brown orbs away from the men in elf suits, she glanced around trying to scout out the rest of her team. "Are they in line somewhere?"

"No, they're over there." At Numbuh 358 voice, Rachel turned towards the left to see Numbuh 360 and 361 sitting at one of the many tables off to the side. Grinning, the Spanish girl took off in a hurry. "Hey guys!" Smiling a bit herself, Rachel followed along. Just not as quickly.

"There y'all are," Numbuh 360 commented as she put down her slurpee. When the final two girls of Sector Q took their seats, Numbuh 360 smirked playfully in Rachel's direction. "Numbuh 358 didn't drive ya deaf did she?"

"I resent that!" The tone deaf girl snapped. After a moment she huffed and stuck her nose her pointedly. "You are just not cultured enough to begin to appreciate my special voice."

"Well…it's special alright." Rachel lightly joked, trying to bring up her mood. She was just waiting for them to snap at her. Fuss at how she never talked to them after she left for the Moonbase. Yet, they never did. Numbuh 360 and 361 even laughed at her poor attempt at a joke. It felt nice. "So, where's Numbuh 359?"

"Over in nerd heaven." Numbuh 361 answered as her gestured to a comic book store across the large floor. It was so full, that people were barely able to fit through the door. The leader examined Rachel's face, chuckling a bit at how it scrunched up. "Yeah, that's what we thought too. So we decided to grab some snacks and a table."

Numbuh 360 snorted. "Ya forgot to mention how we had to knock off a few teenagers to get this table."

"We haven't fought any teenagers in such a long time." Numbuh 358 added in. "The last time we fought any was when we had to stop that idiota Chad back in the Fall."

"I remember that!" Numbuh 361 laughed as the words jarred his memory. "That was when he and those jocks were gonna use that foot-bomb thing to blow up the Moonbase, right? Man, that was crazy." He dimly smirked as he reminisced. "We woulda been toast if Numbuh 362 didn't sneak in and replace the payload."

Rachel blinked. "I did?"

"Course ya did. You kicked major teen tail." Numbuh 360 smirked. "Ya set the timer right and everything. Heh, those stupid city-boys were covered in horse radish for the rest of the season!"

At that, Rachel sheepishly looked down. She was getting praised for something she didn't even do. Well, technically she _did_ do it, but just didn't recall it. "I'm sure it was nothing."

Suddenly her eyes narrowed as she went over what they just said. Chad trying to blow up the Moonbase with a foot-bomb? That mission sounded so familiar, and for some reason she didn't remember Sector Q being the team to take care of it. Then who? She knew the answer, but couldn't seem to form it all right now. Wait, wasn't it–

"Ha! Only you would be modest enough to say saving the whole Moonbase was nothing. Ya shoulda gotten some reward for it." Numbuh 360 laughed, breaking Rachel's train of thought. The platinum blonde mathlete grinned as she reached down under the table. "Reach reminds me, I picked up this for ya while we were getting snacks."

Rachel rose a brow as the girl placed a plate on the table. When she finally looked at it, her expression filled with awe. "Is that –"

"Cheesecake!" Numbuh 361 yelled out as he analyzed the dessert. The boy's mouth was agape as the plate was passed to Rachel, and after staring at it some more, the orange wearing girl beamed as she took a fork and prepared to dig into it. While she was doing that, the Sector Q leader glared at Numbuh 360. "No fair! You told me they didn't have anymore!"

"Oh can it, windpipe." The math whiz scolded. "You know how much Numbuh 362 likes it. Besides, we all owed her something for saving our hides."

"T-Thank you, 360." Rachel got out as she stared at a slice of her favorite dessert. All she could manage was a smile as look down it, and what it represented. This was her teammate's – her friend's way of showing her gratitude. She hadn't got anything like this in ages. There hadn't been any, 'thanks for taking care of all that paperwork Numbuh 362'. No, 'great job on handling the peace negotiation m'am'. She never got any of that as Supreme Leader. But she didn't have to worry about that anymore, because she _wasn't _Supreme Leader.

That sentence didn't sound nearly as bad as it did earlier, she found herself thinking as she took a bite of the sweet cake.

"Don't mention it." Numbuh 360 nodded. "It's the least ya deserve. Sorry it took so long to get it. But ya shoulda got something more from that stingy old Supreme Leader."

"Numbuh 360!" Numbuh 358 suddenly snapped. The dark haired girl was frowning at her teammate and her expression look surprisingly scolding. "How could you be so disrespectful!"

Numbuh 360 blinked before her own words caught up with her. "G-Gosh, y'all know I didn't mean it like that." She then twiddled with her thumbs, looking mildly ashamed. "Ain't no operative should talk about him that way."

"Talk about who? The Supreme Leader?" Rachel asked after swallowing her last bite. She looked around the table, and was a bit shocked to see everyone looking so somber. "Hey guys, it's alright. It's not like Numbuh 60's going to hound you for joking around."

"They didn't mean Numbuh 60," Numbuh 361 started as he sighed a bit. "They were talking about Numbuh –"

"I'm back!" They all jumped when Numbuh 359 suddenly slammed a metal card tin down on the table. The green jacket wearing pilot grinned bemusedly as he took a seat between Rachel and Numbuh 358. "You guys miss me?"

Numbuh 360 rolled her eyes. "If you're itching for a _positive _answer to that, then your odds aren't lookin' so hot."

The boy only crossed his arms. "That's real nice, math geek. And after all I do for you guys?"

Numbuh 358 paused in her humming to stare oddly at the boy. "You mean going bananas in mid-air and almost crashing us into the ground at a kajillion miles per hour for some trading cards?"

"…Well dang, when you say it like _that _I guess I don't hafta give you guys these!" He responded as he pulled up a bag filled with various books. "I am the master at haggling!"

"What are those?"

"My presents to you guys," He started as he pulled out a large math-book. "Algebraic Brain Farts for Numbuh 360." He passed the book to the girl, which she took with a wild grin. "So You Wanna Be a Tween Pop-star for Numbuh 358."

As she took the purple book, the Spanish girl looked it over and scoffed. "I do not need this. My voice is excellent." When she received dry looks from the rest of the table, she nervously chuckle as she tucked it into her sweater. "But perhaps this shall help me get better. Gracias!"

The fly boy shrugged as he passed a pink book to his sector leader. "I picked up the Rainbow Monkey Christmas Love Special for you, guy. Y'know for your 'sister'?" He motioned with air quotes.

"Sweet! This is the one where Snow Fluff Rainbow Monkey reveals that she's Scrooge MacMeanie Rainbow Monkey's long lost daughter!" Once he realized he said that out loud, he coughed into his hands and hid the book into his yellow coat. "So…_yeah_, my lil sis is gonna love that. Thanks."

"_Right_," Numbuh 359 mumbled before turning to Rachel. "And for you Numbuh 362, they were selling the original episodes of Doctor Time-Space. And since the store manager owes me a favor, I snagged you the first season." The said as he placed the box set within her awaiting hands. "I personally don't see what the fuss is about, but to each his…or, her own I guess."

"No way!" Rachel fangirl squealed as she hugged the DVD box set to her chest. But then she froze, now realizing her secret obsession with the nerdy series had been discovered. "Wait, how did _you_ know I'm a Doctor Time-Space fan?" She never remembered sharing that embarrassing bit of information with them, even when she was apart of the team.

"Oh come, Rachel. We found you out when we caught you sneaking in the convention last year." Numbuh 361 shrugged as he finished his soda. "But don't worry, we still aren't planning on telling anybody."

"Yeah," Numbuh 358 agreed as she bobbed along with her music. "What are friends for?"

"Right," Rachel silently agreed as she traced her finger along her gift. "Friends." This…this wasn't turning out to be so bad as she thought. She got to have some cheesecake, a Christmas present, and some actual friends to hang out with. She rarely got to hang out with Fanny or Patton because she kept herself so busy. She was so used to being alone and no one being there to brighten her day. This was beyond fantastic.

But then, why even now did it feel like something was missing? It was like a nagging feeling, like something felt a bit off. A bit wrong. That last statement she thought out, why did it feel incorrect? She then frowned and shook it off. It was probably nothing. Besides, she had friends, desserts, and present. What more could she want?

"Well if Numbuh 359 is done with being Secret Santa, then how about we get outta here?" The Sector Q leader asked. As if to show he meant it, he jumped down and threw his empty soda carton into the trash. He looked around the growing crowd of people and groaned. "I don't want to be here anymore then I have to."

"Agreed," Numbuh 360 said as she joined her leader. "My Pa is gonna be awful sore if he found me here without anybody watching me."

"Okay guys." Rachel nodded as the other started leaving the table. Looking down at her leftover cheesecake and new DVD set, she sighed as she managed to bring what she could. "Wait for me by the Santa line, I need to get my things together." The other only nodded as they took off. Deciding not the waste the delicious dessert, she scooped it up in one gulp before hopping out of her seat. But while tucking her present under her arm, her senses tingled as she felt a presence behind her. She then smirked, that angel boy wasn't as sneaky as he thought. Before he could catch on she turned on her heel and shouted.

"Ha! You can't sneak up on…me?" Her look faltered as she saw that no one was there. The blonde looked around confused, figuring she must have been off. "I could've sworn that was him."

"Little ol me?"

"GAH!" Rachel jumped as she twisted around. There was Henry, looking smug as ever and it was really ticking her off. "Quit doing that!"

"Wow, sure glad you're not my team's spy." His hand reached behind his back, and when it returned, he revealed yet another Christmas cookie from Rachel's tin.

"You're still eating those?" She asked as he mindlessly chomped away on the sugar treat. "I thought you would have cut back after earlier."

"I blame what I flew, not what I chew." Henry chuckled as he took another bite. However he paused mid chomp, then suddenly spit the bits out in disgusts. "Gross! It had nuts in it!"

"I happen to like nuts, thank you very much."

"What is wrong with you?" Henry muttered as he tossed the cookie away. "Someone must've been sipping a little too much holy water when they assigned me to you. A girl who likes nuts…honestly!"

Rachel smirked amusingly. "They do say opposites attract."

"I'm flattered, but it wouldn't work out." Henry teased as Rachel rolled her eyes. "But enough about me, how about you? Having a delightful time?"

Rachel shifted her gaze as she began walking towards her teammate across the floor. "I suppose so."

"You _suppose_? Come on, you can tell me, right?"

"Fine. I guess I'm having more fun then I thought I would." Rachel admitted, both to Henry and a bit to herself. "Happy now?"

"The question is, are _you_ happy?" Henry countered back. "Cause if you're not, I'm doing something wrong."

"I'll admit this is nice. More then nice. It feels…good." Rachel muttered with a small smile. "I mean, I have an actual team now. Friends. Friends who I actually have time for now."

"You coulda had friends as Supreme Leader," Henry suggested. "If time was the issue, I'm sure you could have found some way to manage it. Being boss of your own hours and all."

"It wasn't that simple." Rachel frowned. "There was always people keeping me busy."

"_You_ kept yourself busy, Rachel." Henry said without looking at her. "You choose to stay behind and do all that extra paperwork, nobody asked you to."

"What is your deal?" The blonde snapped to the angel. "One minute you're telling me to have fun, see how great it is not to be Supreme Leader. Then you pull a three-sixty and go off guilt-tripping me to think otherwise!"

"I told you before Rachel, I'm calling it like I see it. It's my job to be honest with you. If it helps you decide what you want, then that's what I'm gonna do." His regular smirk returned as he began munching on another cookie. One he had made sure that there were no nuts. "But what does any of that matter? This is what you want, is it not?"

"Yeah," Rachel uttered as she glanced off to the side. "I guess it is."

"Trouble in paradise?"

"It's just that…I feel like something's not there." She revealed as they stopped for a moment. "I'm not saying I'm not happy with what I've gotten. I appreciate it, but it's like there's this hole."

"There's no excitement? No spark?" Henry elaborated, feeling that maybe his job would be over a bit earlier then he thought. "There's nothing there to make it a bit more interesting? Something that annoys you but at the same time makes it all worth while?"

"Yes, that sounds about right." Rachel nodded. Suddenly, it hit her. "Wait, I think I know what it is."

"You do?" Henry asked, he then smiled. "Well then –"

"I must be bored." Rachel interrupted. "I haven't done anything like a real field operative in Zero knows how long. This is all relaxing, but there's no action to it." She then shook her head. "Don't worry about though, I'll get over it."

However, Henry slumped. "You're…you're bored?" That was it? Darn, he should have known that it was too good to be true. The boy then shrugged, straightening up a bit. Kids will be kids, he supposed. "Fine. If it's action what you want, then action is what you'll get." He then stopped for a moment, then grumbled. "Geez, I thought I was an angel, not some genie."

"Wait," Rachel stopped yet again as she looked to the boy. "Were you thinking of something else?"

"Yes, I'll admit our brainwaves weren't in sync there." But then, he just smirked as he looked towards the blonde girl. "But, if _you_ weren't thinking about it…then it must not be that important to you."

Rachel frowned. "What isn't important?" She asked, but turned around to see she was talking to thin air. Giving a dry look before walking back to her team. "Stupid Houdini angel."

Near the Santa line, Sector Q fiddled around with their own musings waiting for Rachel to get done. Numbuh 359 glanced up from his watch to see the blonde coming and grinned. "Took you long enough."

"Sorry, I was talking to my imaginary friend." Rachel muttered under her breath before swinging her hair back in place. "Are we leaving now?" She was quite ready to get back in bed and wake up to end this dream, even if it was turning out to be a pleasant one.

Numbuh 361 nodded. "Yeah. Let's get going –"

"And I want ALL the action figures, understand?"

The five stopped at the whiny voice, and looked back into the direction. There at the top of the fake North Pole the mall staff had crafted was the fake Santa they had hired. The man in the red suit and fake bread didn't fit the description all that well. He was not rotund in shape, nor did he appear all the jolly. And who would blame him, the poor soul had some spoiled child screeching in his ear. The adult's eyebrows twitched, and he looked ready to snap on a moment's notice.

Numbuh 361 rose an eyebrow. "_That's_ supposed to be Santa?"

"That fella looks skinner then a string-bean left in a frying pan in the middle of June."

"Uh, yes." Numbuh 358 nodded with Numbuh 360's strange phrase. "And he doesn't look very nice at all!"

Rachel narrowed her eyes as she looked the adult over. "Doesn't he seem, familiar?"

Back with the mall Santa, then man grit his teeth as he tried to control his rising anger. He had an idea of what to get the brat, but he had to play the act. Just a few more hours. "Well, be a _good_ little boy and you will –"

"I'm not done yet!" The child interrupted. "I want the Ninja Code video game, a new bicycle, and every Yipper card ever made! Are you writing this down? Cause I know where you live!"

"I…I…" The man growled. Finally, he could not fight it anymore and leapt up to his feet. "I CANNOT TAKE THIS ANYMORE! This is NOT worth two-fifty an hour!"

"Um actually," One of the men in elf costumes hesitantly interrupted. "You're not getting paid. This is part of your community service."

The Santa blinked before raging some more. "That is IT! I do not care if I am sent to jail again, you heathens shall not get away with this any longer!" He hissed as his hand waved over the crowd of shocked children before him. "_Christmas cheer._ Bah! This holiday brings out the absolute worst in children! Never being satisfied with they have been given. Always complaining and wanting more! You have all been naughty, and even coal is too good for any of you!"

Everyone started to back away as the mall Santa apparently snapped. A few mall security guards were about to advance on the crazed man, but stopped dead in their tracks when the adult actually started to _hover_ into the air.

"This year, I will handle Santa's naughty list PERSONALLY! This year, there shall be no goodies in your stockings, no undeserved presents under the tree! This year, you children shall know the stingy, holiday wrath of," He suddenly began spinning within the air, wind flaring up and a cloak surrounding him. The red, white, and gold of his attire slowly morphed into purple, black, and pale within the whirlwind. When he finally stopped, there was no longer a mall Santa. It was a pale being with sharp fangs, a wicked vampire cloak, and two large gloved hands ready for a good spanking.

"COUNT SPANKULOT!" The adult villain announced with pride and glee as he swarmed over the children, making the brat who was just on his lap the first victim. "I vant to smack your butt! Bw ha ha ha ha ha!"

_This_ guy was on a kids' cartoon?

"Ah crud, it's the Count!" Numbuh 359 cursed out as the spank-happy vampire began scooping kids in his clutches and manically laughed as he spanked away with glee. The pilot groaned as he started to cover his own hide. "The one lame villain I wanted avoid this year."

"Well there's no avoiding him now. Let's take care of him fast, it's almost time for dinner!" Numbuh 361 grounded out as he took in the area around him, coming up with a battle plan. He looked to the flexible candy canes, the animatronic reindeer and nodded. "Numbuh 359, distract him so 358 can move into position for some fancy footwork. 360, I want those reindeer hacked and ready to go on my signal." He then turned to Rachel. "Numbuh 362, you finish him off when I pass him to ya. Got it?"

"Wha?"

"Good. Kids Next Door!" He ordered out, the operatives around him tensing. "Battle Stations!"

"Wait a second!" Rachel yelled out, but the other four had already taken off. The blonde slumped, having no idea to what the sector leader wanted her to do. "What am I supposed to be doing?"

"Whatddya mean, 'what are you supposed to be doing'?" She snapped around, seeing Henry leaning against the railing that was meant to keep the line in order. "You're KND, he's an adult baddie. What more is there to it?"

"I don't know what position I'm supposed to be in." Rachel grounded out. "What use am I?"

"Don't sweat about. Just have some fun." Henry grinned as he began eating another cookie. "Let loose and go with your first instinct. You'll know the right thing to do."

Rachel was about to pose another argument before she stopped. What was she doing? Supreme Leader or not, she was Kids Next Door! Nodding, she rose her fists and turned towards the Count. "Right."

"Hold up." Henry got out before she took take off. The angel then reached down towards the floor, and came back up with a long pole like weapon in his grip. "Never say I'm not lookin' out for ya."

Rachel studied the weapon in his hand, and when she recognized it, she grinned.

"Tis the season for giving…giving a good spanking! Ah ha ha ha ha ha!" Count Spankulot chortled as he delivered his brand of painful justice upon another kid's tush. With one final smack, he let the kid go; holding his butt and tears streaming down his face. The vampire then smirked as he tried to pick out his next victim from the panicking crowd. "Who's posterior shall beckon me next?"

"Hey, Count Stinks-a-lot!" The adult villain perked up, and turned towards the sound. There he saw Numbuh 359, taunting him and bending over. "I got something for ya right here!" He shouted as he shook his rump.

The Count glared as he rose up into the air. "Ah, Kids Next Door! I hope your codenumber is low," He then spread his arms, and dove for the pilot. "Because that is how many spanks you shall be getting!" However right when he was upon the operative, he felt a foot ram into his cheek.

"Gah!" The Count grunted as he tumbled to the ground. The vampire themed villain rubbed at his sore cheek with disdain, and glowered at the child how landed right before him. "You shall pay for that!"

"Hola, senior." Numbuh 358 greeted with a curtsey. The tanned girl then looked up the villain with a wicked grin. "Would you care to dance?"

"What are you – OW!" He yelped as the kid rose her foot up and slammed it down on his own. Numbuh 358 then giggled as her feet moved about quickly, delivering grace and pain in perfect combination. Her heel pressed down into the Count's foot causing him to hop on his good foot. She then danced behind him, and kicked her leg out, tripping him up. Once he was done, she jumped up, spun in the air, and purposely landed on his chest.

"OFA!" The man hacked out as the air rushed out in one heave. He growled as he swatted his hands at the girl, but she only jumped up and landed on the railing. The Count got to his feet, and tried to smack the girl down, but the operative just tapped along the rails; feet making rhythmic clanks as she dodged every blow. "Hold still – AH!"

"It takes two to tango, senior bad guy." Numbuh 358 smirked as she took his hands. The dark haired combat expert then jerked the Count around in false dancing motions. She continued to move along the railing as she pulled the vampire along, and when the time had come, she began twirling him, and twirling him until he went into a wild, uncontrollable spin. Then she shouted as she spun the Count in her teammate's direction. "Three Fifty-Eight!"

Numbuh 359 smirked as the Count headed his way. He reached behind his back, and produced a S.L.A.N.K.E.R he had carried on person. He waited until the villain got close, then slammed the blunt end of the weapon into the Count's midsection. The adult grunted, his eyes still spinning. But he would not get a break for the pilot choose that moment to bat him away with his S.P.L.A.N.K.E.R. "Three Fifty-Nine!"

Over near the robotic reindeer, Numbuh 360 had the side plate open as she tuned the decoration to her design. Once all the adjustments had been made, she slammed the hatch shut, then pulled out her notebook. She looked up to see the Count flying towards her, then began scribbling down calculations. When she was satisfied, she nodded, and pushed the fake reindeer exactly two and a half steps to the right, and waited three point six second before banging her fist against it. The reindeer shook and spluttered, and right when the Count came down, 360's 'adjustments made the thing kick its back rear legs and buck the vampire away like a real deer. "Three Sixty!"

The leader of Sector Q grinned as he saw the Count flying towards him screaming. Numbuh 360's calculations never failed. Nodding, the dark skinned boy rubbed his hands together before pulling back on the tallest candy cane he could find. The giant ornament creaked and groaned as it was pulled back, and the operative never let go until the Count was in range. When he let go of the candy cane, it snapped up and batted the Count away with a painful smack. "Three Sixty-One!"

Rachel looked up to see the Count coming down at her. She then looked down in her hands at the weapon Henry had given her. Smiling to herself, the blonde charged forward and stuck her trademark Yield sign outwards. Once she sprinted a good distance, she slammed the blunt boxing glove end to the tiled floor and used it to vault herself into the air. As she came up, she hoisted the weapon over her head and spun it between her nimble fingers as she aimed for the Count. The last the thing the villain heard before it all blacking out was Rachel's jubilant cry of, "Three Sixty-Two!"

_TWHACK!

* * *

_

The face of a black and blue Count Spankulot was hidden away once the doors of the police car closed on him. With the villain locked up, the officer lowered himself into the driver's seat and towed the adult away for violating his parole. The crowd of shoppers hummed with gossip of how the mall Santa cracked, and vindictive mothers vowed revenge on the Count as they tended to their sore children. But near the back out of sight, Sector Q laughed as they made their way back to their ride.

"Heh, let's hope he stays locked up this time." Numbuh 359 commented near the front. "My butt can rest much easier knowing he's off the streets."

"Hear hear." Numbuh 360 agreed as she huddled into her coat. "Nice job giving on him a makeover 362."

Rachel smirked a bit prideful as she twirled her Yield sign once more. "It's all in the wrist."

"I'm just wondering where you got that weapon." Numbuh 361 spoke, never tearing his gaze away from the sign in the blonde's grip. "That looks like a R.O.A.D.S.I.G.N class weapon like the ones Supreme Leaders use. Where did it come from?"

Rachel shifted her eyes before she stopped showing off the weapon. "A friend gave it to me."

Numbuh 358 was curious. "Who's your friend?"

"That'd be me." They all stopped and they looked back to see a boy, who Rachel immediately knew to be Henry. "I'm still trying to decide whether that's a good thing or not."

Numbuh 361 arched a brow. "Who are you?"

"Numbuh 1946," Henry answered with a confident smirk. "I work up on the Moonbase, so I got connections to weaponry like that."

Numbuh 360 developed something of a snide look. "I didn't know janitors could access elite 2x4 technology."

"And I didn't know blondes could do math." Henry snapped back. Someone up there was having too much fun messing with him. He grumbled as he turned to Rachel. "Janitor my – Bah. Can we go? I've only got so much time left and my boss is going to yell at me if I waste it all insulting people."

"Sorry guys, I really do have to go with him." Rachel quickly responded to quell her team's upcoming questions. Henry was already walking away, and she rolled her eyes as she tagged along. But not before waving goodbye to Sector Q. "Merry Christmas."

Henry stopped a bit, waiting for the blonde to catch up. Once she was back at his side, he faced forward. "Was that exciting enough for ya?"

"Yeah. It actually was." Rachel smiled as she twirled her Yield sign, no longer having to worry about her team's suspicious questions concerning it. "I was always one ordering operatives to fight adults, never the one to do the fighting. It felt great to feel my blood pumping, to have to use the field to your advantage and make a plan up on the fly. It was…it was fun!"

"Glad you had blast then. Woulda sent something challenging, but I don't have all night."

She peered up at the angel confused. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing right now. I'm just here to show you everything you have and don't have when you're not Supreme Leader. Which reminds me," He looked over and held his hand out. "I'm gonna be needing that Yield sign back."

"What? But this is mine. I had it custom made when I was…" She trailed off for a moment as she went over everything she had been through so far. Without another word of struggle, she passed the Yield sign back to Henry.

"Now you're getting with the program." Henry chuckled as the weapon disappeared as soon as it entered his fingers. The angel then reached into his pocket, and pulled another cookie. He was about to gobble it in one gulp, but stopped, and sighed a bit. "Not a lot of these left." He mumbled sadden as he savored it by chewing more slowly.

Rachel watched Henry eat his cookie as she thought to herself a bit. Despite everything she had been shown, had been given, something still felt a bit off. "You said you're showing me what I have, and what I don't have. There's something missing, I know there is. This is all wonderful, but why is like I'm forgetting something?"

"If you can so easily forget it, then it must have not meant much to you in the first place." Henry answered back. "You ignored it, so ergo, it's must not be important to you, right?"

"I don't know." Rachel grumbled. "It _has_ to be important if I'm worrying about it so much. Can't you tell me?"

"Sorry Rachel, that's the one thing I can't do." Henry muttered as he finished his cookie. He stared at his empty hand before lowering it once more. "I can only give you what you want, but you have to figure out that part by yourself."

The blonde knitted her brows as she tried to think. It had to be something close to her. Something close for her to stress so much over it. Everything else was perfect expect this one nagging little thing. She rose her head up, thinking she had a good idea on what it was now. "What about my family?" She asked as she turned to Henry. "How were they affected by this?"

Henry didn't smirk or smile, only arched a brow as he looked at her. Before she could ask, he looked forward and simply pointed. Confused, Rachel followed his finger trying to find what he was motioning to. "What are you –"

"Hey, sis!"

Rachel froze at the voice, and then finally noticed a small group of young children approaching her and Henry. She recognized them as Sector W. Sonya, Patrick, and Lee. A round boy she recognized as Tommy Gilligan was with them for some reason, but her attention was solely focused on the boy leading them in front.

"Harvey." Rachel spoke out as she recognized her buck toothed blond brother. She glanced over her shoulder, a bit surprised to see Henry still present, and he tipped his head towards the young sector leader. "What are you doing here?"

"Heh, Merry Christmas to you too, sis." The boy lightly smiled at his older sibling. "We were at the park having a snowball fight when heard Count Spankulot was at the mall. We came to help, but since you're here, you must've already kicked his butt!"

"Yeah, we did." Rachel answered, staring at her brother oddly. "Harvey, are you feeling alright? You seem, different."

The boy looked confused. "Different how?"

Rachel looked back to Henry once more, who only frowned and motioned to Harvey once again. "Never mind." She sighed before greeting the rest of them. "How are you guys doing?"

Lee only flicked his yo-yo and grinned a bit. "We're cool."

"Uh-huh. We're having a good Christmas, m'am." Sonya shyly answered before glancing back to Patrick. She cupped her hands of her mouth and tried to whisper. "We're trying to cheer Numbuh 85 up."

"I can hear you." Patrick depressingly muttered. The small boy only sighed, and tugged his oversized snow cap over his head. "Not that it matters anyway."

Rachel looked at the Fulbright child worried. "What's the matter with him?"

"His cheap dad gave him AND his brother the worst haircut of the century." Tommy added with a grin. He then chuckled and pointed at Patrick trying to stifle his full laughter. "Talk about a bad hair day! Heh heh heh!"

Harvey looked towards Tommy with a scolding look. "Numbuh T, stop making fun of Numbuh 85."

"Spoil sport."

"Harvey, are you _sure_ you're okay?" Rachel asked, a bit concerned for her sibling. He wasn't acting like Harvey, or at least the one she knew. But suddenly, all thoughts of Harvey screeched to a halt as she focused on that other odd bit. "Wait, _Numbuh T_?"

Tommy frowned, thinking she was insulting his choice in codenames. "The Big Computermabob said I could be Numbuh T, so I'm Numbuh T!"

"But…you're not in the Kids Next Door."

Behind her, Henry coughed. "Actually –"

"I am in the Kids Next Door!" Tommy whined. "I am! I've got the cool codename and all the gadgets to prove it! Stop saying I'm not!"

"Stop yelling at my sister!" Harvey snapped at the boy. "You're not going to be a good operative if you throw a hissy fit about everything!"

Tommy blinked before huffing. "I never wanted to be on your team anyway."

"Well like or not, you are. We're a team so get with the picture."

"Harvey, really. You're not sounding like yourself." Rachel pressed as she pressed her hand to his forehead to check for a fever. "Have you been wearing your jacket? You know how easily you get…Wait." She jerked her hand away as she realized something. "Why aren't you freaking out because I'm touching you without permission?"

"Uh, because you helped me get over it?" Harvey said confused. "And what do you mean I don't sound like myself? I'm only treating my team fair like you say I should. What? Should I be a jerk instead?"

"No I just…I said that?" Rachel mumbled not following. She then turned to Henry for help. "What's going on?"

"Ya know, I think at this point it would be wise to just play along with it." Henry shrugged. "Who knows? You might pick up a few things." Rachel only stared at the angel until Sonya spoke up.

"Um, sir? Can we go to the Ice Cream parlor now?" The short blonde asked as she shivered. "We need to go before it gets too…dark."

"Oh yeah," Harvey muttered in remembrance. "We were going to Patty's favorite ice cream joint for some hot fudge to cheer him up about his…condition." He carefully spoke. Bad hair cuts were to never be taken lightly. The boy smiled at his sister as he held his hand up. "Wanna come?"

Rachel just looked at her brother's extended hand. She couldn't believe it. Apparently here, Harvey seemed to be a bit…nicer if that were even possible. And Tommy was still in the Kids Next Door for some reason. She looked to Henry again, wanting to know the answer, but was suddenly overwhelmed by the urge to get some hot fudge with her brother more. "Can I…?"

Henry gave a tiny smirk. A bit weaker and not as smug. "If it's what you want."

"Hey sis, who are you talking to?"

Rachel looked down at her brother's confused expression, then looked back behind her to see Henry gone. Again. But she didn't seem to mind as much as she smiled at Harvey. "No one." Her hand fell into his, and the boy tugged her along as they all left to get some chocolate treats. Rachel still couldn't believe all this was happening. It was like the exact opposite of how these types of things went. It had started like a nightmare, then transformed into a blissful dream.

_'If this is a dream,'_ Rachel found herself thinking. _'Then…I don't think I want to wake up.'_


	4. Act Four

**~4~**

"Then Lee went to give his fudge to Sonya, and you should've seen the blush on their faces when Harvey pointed out they were under the mistletoe," Rachel laughed as she walked down the street with Henry. "They just look so cute together. I think everyone thinks so."

The angel boy munched away on another cookie, but with less vigor this time. "Sounds interesting."

Rachel had just departed from her brother's group not too long ago. Once the fudge had been eaten, and two operatives had been tricked under the kissing plant, Harvey had said that they needed to return to the treehouse to handle one last bit of business before they could go home. With him gone, Henry had decided to reappear from where ever he wandered off to and joined her on the walk. Rachel didn't know where they were heading, Henry never said where, but she didn't mind this time. She was too caught up with all she had been through.

"I just can't believe this night," She spoke out after fixing her hair. "First I find out I'm not Supreme Leader. After I got over that, I got to meet with my old team again, have fun actually fighting adult tyranny again, and now Harvey."

"Heh," Henry lightly uttered. "And here you were thinking everything was going to be all bad."

"It was just all so surprising." Rachel reasoned. "Like Harvey. What was up with him? I know he's normally not…the best person to be around," She grimly admitted remembering his title of Most Hated Operative. "But now it's like he takes his job more seriously, he's fair and less of a jerk. How did that happen?"

"You happened." Henry went into explain. "You get to spend a lot more time at home now. The more you were around your brother, the more you tried to make him a better person. Let's just say it's been working well so far."

"I guess I could understand that." Rachel said to herself. "But what about Tommy? How in the world does me not being Supreme Leader mean he's still in the Kids Next Door? He took his booger out of the Code Module to stop Father's plan."

"Just a simple change of who went in to do what. You sent a sector in to deal with the problem, and the other Supreme Leader did the same. He just picked a different sector then you did." That was Henry all revealed and it was really all he intended to. "Since Tommy wasn't apart of the sector to go in the raid, that meant he didn't stop Father. Fate altered events so someone else did."

"Huh." Rachel muttered out as she glanced to the ground. All that because the Supreme Leader who took her placed choose a different sector. "Well, Father was still defeated and Tommy got to keep his operative status. That's good for him, now he doesn't have to parade around as 'The Tommy'."

"I would have preferred The Tommy to Numbuh T, personally." Henry muttered as he took one more bite of his current cookie. "While he lost his operative status, he gained a life lesson about sacrifice. You've seen the way he acts here."

The blonde frowned as the angel said that. Some of it was true, Tommy did seem to act a bit more self-centered here. In a way, it was like he and Harvey had exchanged mannerisms and attitudes. But she didn't really pay it any mind. He was still young and had a lot to learn. "Well what do you expect? He's a kid. We all are."

"Yes," Henry uttered as he looked in her direction. "You've certainly proven that tonight."

"Something you want to say?"

"It's what you wished for right? No more Rachel, the Supreme Leader. Only Rachel, the operative kid. It's what I gave you. Aren't you enjoying it?"

It took a moment for the girl to fully form her answer. "Yes. I really have." She turned to look at Henry with a smile. "Thank you."

"Hm," The boy responded as he closed his eyes. "Don't go thanking me just yet."

"Why wouldn't I? You've given me the chance to be an actual kid again. You don't understand how much that means to me." She began trying to explain, but then she looked at Henry a bit closer this time. How his smugness he carried seem to be thinning, how his mood seemed to less humorous as the night went on. Something wasn't right. "Hey, are you feeling alright? You don't seem as…you just seem different now."

"I'm not much longer for this world." He opened his eyes, and shook his head at Rachel's serious expression. "Oh don't be thinking that way. I'm already dead. I mean I don't have much time left before I have to go back, my work tonight is almost done."

"I know what you meant."

"Then why did you looked so freaked out about it?"

"It's just…" Rachel tried to choose her words carefully, but couldn't think of any without coming off completely selfish. "When you…go back, that means everything will go back to normal. Everything will be like it used to be, me being Supreme Leader. Isn't that right?"

"That's how these things work out I suppose."

"But…" Rachel stopped, not really knowing how to put it. After everything she had experienced, after finally getting her childhood back, she…she wasn't quite sure she wanted to give it back. "What if I don't want it too?"

Henry frowned as her processed her words. "You don't want to go back to your old life?"

"I…n-no. No I don't." She shamefully admitted. "I mean, I know it's a selfish thing to ask, but I have everything I could want here. I have friends, time to spend with my family."

"You could easily choose all that with your old life. I thought we've seen that the Kids Next Door can survive if you wanted to go away for a little while."

"But they're doing even better without me. Everyone is." She uttered lowly as she looked away. They didn't need her as Supreme Leader. "Patton knows how to command. He'll do a fine job, and Fanny will be up there with him. They even each other out. I know I'm not their friends here, and probably never will, but it seems to work out better that way. It's like you said, since I'm not here, I.T didn't happen. All of my mistakes never happened. They're all spared of my foul-ups."

"Nobody's perfect." Henry spoke up. "You can't avoid not making mistakes. You think you're the only one who has?"

"I know what you're trying to say, but I'm sure that this," She motioned to the world around her. The one without her leading the Kids Next Door. "This is the better choice. The better life for me and everyone. Harvey's becoming a better operative, a more decent person, and even Tommy gets to stay with the KND just like he wanted. Everything is better." She then lowered her hands, and sighed trying to clear any remaining doubts. "Everything is better without me as Supreme Leader."

Henry said nothing after that, only closed his eyes in deep thought. Rachel was unnerved by his silence, and was about to speak once more, but she was shushed when he opened his lids, revealing his violet pupils. He hummed to himself, then looked at her. He peered into her very essence for what seemed like an eternity, then finally spoke. "Are sure you know what you're asking for?"

Rachel was taken aback by his sudden inquiry, but then gathered face and nodded. "I wouldn't be asking if I wasn't."

"This is a one time deal Rachel. No money-back-guarantee. Everything you've seen is so short term. If this doesn't satisfy you in the long run, then you're stuck with it."

The blonde held strong, confident that this was the better option. This was her chance. "I'm ready to accept the consequences."

"Are you really?" Henry questioned, a wry smirk appearing. "Have you thought about every possible outcome? Have you went over you could gain, and everything that you'll lose?"

"I know what I'll gain. I'll get my childhood back. And I know what I'll lose to get it." She stated, trying not to waver under the pressure. This was it. She was certain of it. She was, really. "I'll lose my chance at leading the Kids Next Door to a better future, I'll lose friends, friends like Fanny and Patton. But everything else, everything I've ever wanted will be here."

Henry laughed a humorless laugh at those words. "I can't give you _everything_ you want Rachel. That would be unfair. I would have to take something to make it all an even transaction. Business is business, sad to say." The angel then shook his head. "But then again, if it isn't even coming to mind for you, then it really never meant anything to you to begin with."

Rachel frowned at that. What happened to that joking, jerky like angel who went crazy over Christmas cookies? This Henry seemed so serious, like all this really _was_ a job to him. He was starting to sound like some business man. Like an adult. "Just what are you saying? What is it that you really want from me?"

"I just want you to be happy, Rachel. If giving you this life is what it takes, then I guess my job is done." Was all he said. He then lifted his hand to take a peek at his watch, and after gauging the time and looking towards the sky, he nodded. "Ten forty-five."

"What?"

"Ten forty-five is when my tick will run out of tock. At ten forty-five, this will be your life. The 'what-if' will become reality. And after ten forty-five, there will be no going back."

"Ten forty-five?" She asked confused. "Why not something more even like say, midnight?"

"Geez, who do you think I am? The fairy godmother?" Henry grumbled before shaking his head. "But all joking aside, this is serious. Once time is up, you're stuck here for good. If you want to go back to the way things were, then call me up before it's too late."

Rachel absorbed the information she had been presented, and could only nod when all was said and done. "I will think about it…but I think it's better this way."

"After ten forty-five, it won't matter. I only hope you know what you're doing, Rachel. I hope you haven't forgot about something." He turned away, walking off in the opposite direction before disappearing. "Or someone." Suddenly the wind blew in a flurry of snow, and once it died down, Henry was gone. Only his exit was much more somber then before.

The blonde lowered her arms as the wind died down, staring at Henry used to be. It was unbelievable. She had spent all that time thinking out all her options and finally able to come to a firm conclusion on what she wanted. Yet in a few short seconds, he was able to shake her resolve to the core and make her second guess herself. He shouldn't been able to do that. He didn't have permission to do that! Only one other person was allowed to do that and Henry wasn't that person. But then Rachel froze.

She didn't really forget about anything, did she?

She stayed focused on the spot where her angel just was, but then flinched when something cold landed on her nose. Twitching it off, she looked up to see more tiny crystal flakes beginning to shower down. Shivering a bit, Rachel tucked her arms into her sleeves, forcing them to go as far as they would allow before turning and walking down the street. Where was she going? She still didn't know, and thanks to her decision, Henry wasn't here to guide her. He was gone and left her to fend for herself.

Now that was _funny_. This whole thing started with her being alone, and now even after wishing she wasn't and getting her wish, she ended up just as she started. Maybe she should just head home. That way she wouldn't be on her lonesome. It was Christmas Eve right? She shouldn't have to be alone, Supreme Leader or otherwise. Why did that sound familiar? Like she's heard it before. Someone didn't want her to be alone, yet she had ignored it or was too busy to listen.

Darn it, now she was actually afraid she _was_ forgetting something.

Rachel quickly strode down the sidewalk in attempt to get home quicker. To put this out of her mind once and for all. Maybe find a way to defy Henry by waking up tomorrow and saying everything was just another blissful dream. But she couldn't even call it a dream anymore, not after she had just accepted it and made a deal to make it real. None of it made sense. Henry kept saying he was giving her what she wanted. And she wanted this life. This life of not having to worry about it all. But every time she opened up to it, Henry acted like he was trying to dissuade her from choosing it and only to finally give in at the end.

Maybe that's why he seemed so different. Maybe that's why he appeared to lose his zealous appeal. He walked in her office wearing his Sunday best all smug and confident, like he knew that no matter what happened, he would be right. But now that she was going along with it, he didn't seem to put up much effort anymore. Perhaps he thought she would hate this life. Maybe he wasn't trying to give her what she wanted, but ended up unintentionally doing so by mistake. Maybe. So many maybes, and she wasn't even sure if that was right. It made sense, but then again, Henry was supposed to be angel, and they weren't suppose to make rational sense. Was that his game plan? To confuse her? Because it was working. Or maybe she was confusing herself.

Or maybe she had the right idea in the first place and really did end up going crazy. That, again, was always a possibility.

_'Stop thinking about that stupid angel and his motives. I'm supposed to be thinking about this thing I'm obviously forgetting.'_ At first, she thought it was her family, but now after spending time with Harvey, she now knew that wasn't the case. Because even her family wasn't able to ease away this incomplete feeling. Something was missing, but she didn't know what. What else could have changed?

Or rather, what _didn't_ change? Maybe that was the answer. Something didn't change, but that was impossible. Everything connected to her own life had changed. But maybe instead of changing, or not changing, perhaps the thing she was forgetting wasn't even here anymore.

"In that case, what is it?" She mumbled to herself, now going over a list of everything worth while to her. Not anybody else, just her.

Fanny and Patton. Both up on the Moonbase, one Supreme Leader, the other Head of Decommissioning and both fine. Harvey and her family? Her brother was out with his sector, and according to what he said at the ice cream shop, mom and dad were both at home getting ready for all the relatives they were expecting. Anything she had as Supreme Leader could be marked off her list, but what else was there then? What was that one thing she was…wait a minute. One.

Sweet mother of all Rainbow Monkeys. One!

"Where's Nigel?" She snapped up sounding a bit distressed. She stopped in the middle of the street as she tried to think of where the British leader of Sector V would be. Was he alright? How had the change affected him? Why the heck did it take her this long to think about him? During he mental rant, she felt something tap against her heel and she jumped up in surprise.

"Geez! What was…that?" She noticed something at her foot, and she bent over to pick it up. The cold metal of the object tingled the tips of her fingers, but she just held it to her face and inspected it. After twisting it around and looking closely at it, she came to the decision that object was just some, "A screw?"

Indeed it was. Just some screw. Slighter bigger then what she was used to seeing, but a metal screw nevertheless. It was probably just some random occurrence, but after everything she had been through so far, she wasn't ready to just label it off like that. So now the question was, "Where did it come from?"

"For Pete's sake! Where'd that stupid bolt go?"

Looking up at the disgruntled voice, Rachel looked up the driveway from where the screw rolled down to see an open garage. But there was no car inside the garage. Inside was what seemed like half of an old broken down C.O.O.L.B.U.S. It appeared as if someone cut the large 2x4 ship in half systematically, and it was being suspended from the roof of the garage by metal chains. Several plates of its armor were scattered around the floor, and the hood was propped up revealing an engine so sophisticated that she couldn't even begin to describe it. Beside the C.O.O.L.B.U.S was a table littered to the brim was oily tools, and a chilli dog with only a single bite into it. Someone was obviously working on the device, question was who.

Then Rachel's unasked question would be answered as some clangs caught her attention. Looking towards the open engine, she now noticed some mass moving around the other side of it. A kid; boy if she wasn't mistaken. The boy dug around in the engine, moving around bits of machinery looking for something. The blonde looked down in her hand and wondered if it was the screw that was giving him so much trouble. Deciding to ease his woes, she began walking up to offer a helping hand. At least someone's problems would be solved tonight.

"Why is it always the small things?" She heard the boy mumbling as she got closer. She walked along the side of the C.O.O.L.B.U.S and made out his legs sticking out of the hood. With each twist and turn of his body, something moved or he grumbled. "Why can't the monkey wrench or power drill ever go missing? At least I wouldn't have to use a magnifying glass to find those!"

After some more cruses and grumbling, Rachel coughed into her hand and made herself known. "Excuse me?"

"Huh?" The boy stopped moving as he heard her voice, his legs moved around and she somehow knew he was scratching his head under there. "Um, I'm kinda busy here."

"I can see that."

"Look, if you're the kid who wanted me to replace the lens in your S.C.A.M.P.P, it's on the table near the door. If you're not, then I'm sorry but I got my hands tied and I'm closing up shop for the holidays."

Rachel rose her brow as she looked around the garage. To her surprise it didn't even look like a normal garage anymore. It looked like some 2x4 chop shop. Weapons ranging from broken M.U.S.K.E.T.'s to cracked opened M.A.R.B.L.E.'s were stacked on the back shelves. G.U.N.K.E.R.'s waiting to be refueled weren't too far form common, and even near the back door on the table in trays were finished goods waiting to be picked up. Like a newly polished B.O.O.M.A.B.A.N.G or even the repaired S.C.A.M.P.P the boy mentioned. It was an endless wonderland of broken down junk, and the boy was apparently in charge of fixing it all.

As her thoughts jumped back to the boy, she shook her head as she spoke again. "I'm not here for the S.C.A.M.P.P, I'm here to try and help." She then held up her hand holding the screw as if he could actually see it from the undercarriage. "You see I found this screw outside…"

"Ya don't say?" The boy muttered as he stopped his rapid movement for a minute. "Does it have a dent in the second curve?"

"Um," Rachel paused as she looked down, squinting and seeing a small crick in the second indention. "Yes?"

"Really? Well aren't you a lifesaver." He then stopped fooling around completely and jiggled her left foot around. "Now pull my leg."

Rachel gave him a dry look. "No, I really do have a screw. I'm not kidding."

"Neither am I, lady. Now pull my leg!"

"Why?"

"You've never seen someone stuck before?"

"You're stuck?"

"_No_, I just like sweet talking to the engine up close and personal." He grumbled sarcastically. "Help me outta here!"

"Okay, okay. Why didn't you just say so?" Rachel mumbled as she set the screw down on the messy table and gripped around his ankle and pulled.

"I thought it was obvi – OUUUUSSSS!" He screamed in surprise when Rachel tugged harder then she meant to and pulled him out when he wasn't ready. Rachel fell to the ground, and the boy rolled off until he hit the shelf. The tech scattered among it rattled until most of it toppled all over him. The boy groaned once the metal avalanche had ended. "You know, you should try out for professional tug of war." One more invention fell on top of him after that. "Ow."

"I'm so sorry!" Rachel quickly got out as she dug around until she found a hand. She pulled, but a bit more gently this time. "I got ahead of myself there."

"No sweat," The boy mumbled out as he got to his feet. He dusted his shirt off, then reached into his pocket for something. "I'm used to being buried under a lot more metal and grease then that."

"Hold on a minute…" Rachel paused as the portly boy pulled out a handkerchief and began wiping his hands and face off. Once it was all clear and she could make out the yellow lens of his goggles, she smiled, thinking she had found the answers to all her worries. "Numbuh 2!"

"Who'd you expect to be down here?" Hoagie mildly asked as he took off his goggles and began scrubbing them clean. "Considering you found that dang screw and got me out of a tight spot, I suppose that guy can wait for his C.O.O.L.B.U.S to get modded. What can I do for ya?"

"Numbuh 2, it's me. Numbuh 362?" She asked before palming her face. "Oh wait, you probably don't know me."

"No no, give me a second. If you've ever wanted something fixed, or otherwise, I'll remember ya." The boy muttered out as he placed his goggles back on. He narrowed his eyes at the blonde before snapping his finger. "Wait, Numbuh 362? That girl who used to be the best spy, right?"

Rachel sighed. "Yeah, guess that's me."

"I think we've met before. That mission into Father's mansion that one time, that was you wasn't it?" Hoagie questioned as he made his way back over to the table near the C.O.O.L.B.U.S. Taking the missing screw into his fingers, he expertly flicked it into the proper hole, and flipped his screwdriver in his opposite hand before twisting the screw in with amazing speed. "Or was it that 206 guy? You both dressed the same that day. Or was that some cover and you were actually both the same person?" He muttered as he placed the screwdriver down. Seeing something out of place, he banged against and hummed as it fell into the correct slot. "I was never good with keeping up with mission details. That was Abby's job."

"It wasn't that important." Rachel mumbled as she watched the boy work. She looked around his garage once more. She had heard Numbuh 2 was a techno wizard but she never imagined anything like this. "Quite the set up you got here."

"Eh, it works." Was all he said as he inspected the C.O.O.L.B.U.S engine once more. His hand hovered over his tools, and after making up his mind, he stopped over something that looked like a cross between a hammer and a wrench. He picked it up and stuck it in somewhere, and it surprisingly never made a single sound as he twisted it. "Mom's cool with it as long as the grease stays in here. The bro is kept out on his bad days, and let in on the good ones. Though I can never tell which is which anymore."

Rachel could only nod as she listened, though some of it felt a bit off. Not once had Hoagie attempted to make some joke or pun. Maybe it was just her. "I've seen your brother earlier. My brother is the leader of his sector."

"You met Tommy, huh? He's a good operative when he wants to be." Hoagie muttered as he shook his head. "Needs to appreciate his team more though. Never know when they all could be up and gone one day." The kid stopped fooling around with his tool, as he said that. He lowered his working hand to the side side of the hood and dragged his other hand across his face. He looked back to Rachel, and arched a brow when he saw she was still there. "Do I owe you lunch money or something?"

"No, nothing like that." Rachel replied softly as she looked at the boy once more. His face didn't carry that trademark joviality. He didn't seem to throw around his weight of mirth like he used to. Hoagie didn't seem like that wisecracking, cocky pilot she had heard so much about. He seemed a bit more guarded and tired. It was written all over his expression. She found herself not liking it one bit. "I guess you could say I'm an old friend stopping by for a visit."

"One mission and we're friends? You girls like to move fast, dontcha?" He responded, only there was not a single trace of humor in his voice. Hoagie only went to tolerating her presence at best as he worked to finish with the C.O.O.L.B.U.S when it was clear she didn't want anything. "Look, I'm not really into the whole awkward, one-sided conversation thing, so if ya don't want something or need something fixed, then you're probably better off heading on home." He sighed as he placed the tool aside, not really up to tending to the broken down piece of scrap anymore. "I feel like heading inside and getting some grub myself."

Rachel frowned as she twiddled her fingers. "I just wanted to see how everyone's doing."

"In that case, mom's in the kitchen finishing up supper. Grandma is…well, as long as she isn't hounding on me I really don't care what she's doing, but she's fine. And you've met Tommy. He'll be back shortly." Hoagie answered as he turned to the table of tools, searching for the right one. "And me? I'm doing what I'm always doing."

Rachel's frown only intensified as Hoagie went on, telling her about everything except what she really wanted to know. She watched him pick up a normal wrench, which then had all sorts of other small tools spring out when he pressed a button, and groaned. "It meant the guys. I wanted to know how Sector V is doing."

"Go ask them then."

"That's why I'm asking you." Rachel grumbled as she crossed her arms. "What about Nigel? Is he alright at least?"

_CLANG!_

The blonde jumped as the metallic clang echoed through the garage, causing her to cringe. She slowly opened her clenched eyes, and looked over to see Hoagie had dropped the wrench he was holding. The round boy seemed frozen on the spot, as if she paralyzed him with some magic word. Then suddenly, he sucked in a deep breath then glared at her as he bent over to pick up the very item he had dropped.

"Oh, she thinks she's funny." She heard him grumbled heatedly as he picked up the wrench. "Well listen here, toots, I don't do funny anymore. But I do know not funny, and trust me," He grounded out as he shook the wrench lightly at her. "You are NOT being funny."

Rachel stuttered absurdly as the inventor sharply turned on her and went back to work, putting heavy pressure on whatever he was twisting to vent frustration. Not feeling like dealing with his attitude, Rachel snapped at him. "What the heck? I just asked about Nigel!"

"If you're gonna keep going on about that, then leave." Hoagie lowly grumbled out as he used his free hand to motion to the door. "I'm not in the mood for it!"

"What's the matter with you? I just asked about your team!"

"What team are you talking about? Cause I sure don't."

"YOUR team, wiseguy!" Rachel snarled as she clenched her fists. "I'm talking about Sector V!"

As if her words stirred something in him, Hoagie slowly stopped to a halt and looked over his shoulder, confused at the girl. "What are you talking about? I'm not part of Sector V." He then turned back to his tuning, then decided to add something as an afterthought. "Well, not anymore."

"Wha? Not part of …are you…" She trailed off as her eyes widened in fear. "O-Oh no." She muttered out, the events of tonight catching up in her memory. "What else changed?"

"You alright kid?" She looked up to see Hoagie looking back at her again. "You slip off a snow back or something?"

Rachel was about to say no. Say no and demand the boy tell her everything he knew. But then, she was struck by the most insane, idiotic, brilliant tactic she had thought of in all her career. She would just take Henry's advice.

She would just play along with it.

"Y-Yes!" Rachel suddenly agreed as she vigorously nodded her head. "I-I hit my head! Got it banged against a brick wall like a bazillion times! I can't remember jack! H-Hey, is that my name?"

"_Okay_." Hoagie slowly dragged out as he looked at the girl with a new eye. Just what he needed. Some crazy sneaking into his workshop. His head slowly trailed along the table trying to find his G.U.M.Z.O.O.K.A sidearm. "Why does my house attract all the looney town escapees?"

"No! Please, I'm serious." Rachel cried out, not believing she was almost begging. "I _really_ can't remember anything. Honest. I was on the Moonbase over a few hours ago and thought I was the Supreme Leader." She tried to persuade. When Hoagie blinked and doubled his efforts to find his weapon she panicked. "Look! I just want some information! That's all! Tell me what I want to know and I'll leave. I won't bother you anymore!"

Hoagie paused for a second, wondering if he should take that chance. "I don't know –"

"You like Doctor Time-Space right?" She asked as she reached around her backside. She then produced the DVD box set Numbuh 359 had given her, then passed it across the floor. "There! First original season! It's yours if you tell me what I NEED to know!"

Curious, Hoagie stepped down towards the box set, keeping his eye on Rachel. The blonde didn't dare move as he picked up the present and inspected it. He tore the wrapping away and looked inside, smirking a bit once he found it to be legit. "Well, you drive a hard bargain."

"So you'll help me?"

"Sure, why not?" Hoagie shrugged as he placed his new Christmas bonus on the table. "What can this washed up flyboy talk your ear off about?"

"Sector V." Rachel calmly started as she composed herself. "You…you were the pilot, and Chief Scientist for the whole team."

"Wow, you go for the hard stuff and do your homework." Hoagie muttered as he began polishing another tool, deciding to use Rachel as a little break. "Yeah, I used to be in Sector V. Real good team. Real good friends. Thought we'd be handling missions for a long time. Be troublemakers together till we hit thirteen. Thought a lot of things back then." He then sighed, letting old memories wash over him. "Guess I thought wrong."

"What happened?"

"A lot of things." Hoagie muttered. "Teenagers making plans to get rid of us, a new backstabbing traitor wanting to get rid of us when we got in his way. But we stuck through it together. We got through a lot of crud…only to be broken up in the aftermath without a fight." The boy shook his head as he laid down the now clean tool. "Long story short, Sector V just really wasn't a sector anymore after Nigel left to become Supreme Leader."

"WHAT?" Rachel screamed out shocked. "When did…N-Nigel? Numbuh 1 was the _Supreme Leader_?"

"Uh, yeah." Hoagie slowly responded to Rachel. How hard did she hit her head exactly? "After Chad betrayed us, he left us without a leader, not to mention everyone was still freaking out about almost being barbequed by the sun. There was panic for a while, because no one wanted to Supreme Leader. A game of Tag was almost called."

Rachel looked down. Feeling guilty that here, she never stepped up to spare them all that chaos. "Tag never ends well."

"Tell me about it. You never know who you could end up with. Some idiot could even tag somebody like Father." He mused a bit while Rachel coughed into her hand. "But anyway, nobody wanted to play Tag, but we were running out of options. That's when Nigel stepped up. He…he did it so we wouldn't have to play."

"He…he did that, huh?" Rachel mumbled with tiny smile. It seemed like something he would do. But then any trace of a smile vanished as Hoagie's story didn't seem to add up with what she already knew. "But wait…_Patton _is the Supreme Leader. Not Nigel."

"You mean Numbuh 60? Yeah he's Supreme Leader now." Hoagie answered as he dragged his hand across his table. "He's…Nigel's successor."

Rachel filled with dread at those words, but she wouldn't let her mind wander to such dark place. No. That didn't mean he was…he probably quit like she almost did. Or maybe did something else that…she wouldn't even dare consider that possibility. She looked up to Hoagie through her bangs, preparing another question. "What…what happened to the rest of the team?" She asked to distract herself some the other worry.

"Well sad to say, we really couldn't function like a team after Nigel had to leave. He was like our focus, our glue. Kept us working hard and made sure we didn't slack off. But he didn't have time to lead just us, he had to lead everybody. We thought we could handle without him, but ended up getting our butts handed to us more often then not. We just slowly fell apart after that." He mumbled as he picked up a hammer before placing it back down. "Abby still didn't want to handle being sector leader, felt like she wasn't ready. I'm more useful sitting at the wheel then in a captain's chair. And if you knew anything about Numbuh 3 and 4, then you already know they couldn't handle something as big as that."

"So what happened?"

"We all had to be reassigned. Had to be useful somewhere, even if it wasn't together." Hoagie answered. "Numbuh 4 got shipped back to Australia to be part of the sector down under. And last I heard, Numbuh 3's family moved back to Japan and she was training to became part of the secret Japanese sector. But that was a long time ago. I haven't seen or heard from either of 'em since."

"What about you and Numbuh 5?"

"We had a bit more experience tucked under our belts. We got lucky enough to snag some promotions that got us on the Moonbase a bit closer to Nigel." The portly boy then smiled for the first time since she had arrived. "Then it was just us three again. Like back before Numbuh 3 and 4 joined Sector V. Sure, there were tons of other operatives around, a lot more paperwork, but we still got time in. Abby kept Nigel grounded from his crazy theories, and I was there to lighten the mood. Just like old times. For a while, times weren't so bad. But they all gotta end sometime." His face then blanked again, and he didn't feel like saying much on the matter anymore. "Story time's over. You better be getting home before you're snowed in over here."

Rachel snapped up at how Hoagie just so suddenly ended his tail. She wasn't stupid. She knew there was more to it. He wasn't telling her what she really wanted to know. He was avoiding telling her about what happened to Nigel. The blonde didn't know what to think. If Hoagie was really avoiding it, then she really didn't want to know. But, she had to know. Needed to know what became of the boy. So after steeling her nerves away, she stood from her sitting position and stood strong.

"But what about the Supreme Leader?" She asked, not stopping even when Hoagie did. "What happened to Numbuh 1?"

Hoagie stood stiff for a moment before trying to get back to work. "I'm busy."

"What happened to him?"

"I said I'm busy."

"I'll leave once you tell me."

"Just how hard did you hit your head? What do you _think_ happened?"

"I don't know. That's why I'm asking."

"Why don't you –"

"Hoagie!" Rachel snapped. "What happened to Nigel?"

"GRANDFATHER HAPPENED!" The boy suddenly snapped himself as he turned and threw the wrench he was holding. Rachel actually to sidestep to avoid getting hit by the object and she just watched as Hoagie heaved heavy breaths with a furious snarl.

"Grandfather got recommissioned because that STOOPID Fanny couldn't destroy that device like she should have! _I kept it secret! I thought nobody would find out!_ Well someone DID find out! And MY friend paid for it!" Hoagie shouted out, his form trembling. "Nigel had to be some s-stupid hero! Had to s-send us away from the Moonbase so he could do his stupid plan to save us. H-He…he…" His voice crackled a bit, he slumped down against the C.O.O.L.B.U.S. His hands clutching around his head as he took a moment to regain himself.

Rachel stood paralyzed as well. Found herself fearful at what Hoagie was implying. She slowly stepped back, not knowing if she wanted to hear anymore. But whether she wanted to or not, Hoagie found that he had to finish since he had already started.

"We were getting overwhelmed. Left and right treehouses were being turned into those tapioca factories and every minute a hundred more Citizombies popped up. The Moonbase was the only real safe place left. Operatives who went down didn't come back up, and every ship was barred from entering. We couldn't risk them infecting the last safe haven." Hoagie explained. "But it wasn't safe. Nothing was. We were all waiting up there. Just waiting for Grandfather to win. We knew he was laughing at us. We could _hear _him. Hear him laughing when we were forced to shoot down some ship that got too close…we could hear him laughing at our fear."

Rachel couldn't grasp what she was hearing. She didn't even want to. "B-But…what about Numbuh Zero?"

"You believe in that myth too, huh?" Hoagie dryly chuckled, ignoring Rachel's confused look. "I don't think even the fairytale of Numbuh Zero could of saved us. Nigel did for some reason. He really thought the guy was real. He wanted to find him or her. But he couldn't leave the Moonbase. Because he's Supreme Leader, right? He had to lead us during that crisis."

"But he _did_ find…" Rachel couldn't finish as logic clogged up her throat once more. When _she_ was Supreme Leader, Nigel took off after Numbuh Zero and found him. They were able to stop Grandfather. But here was different. Nigel was the Supreme Leader during the time. If he couldn't leave the Moonbase, that meant he couldn't have found Numbuh Zero. The one operative who knew the key to beating Grandfather was never reawakened, which meant Grandfather wasn't stopped the way she remembered it. But then,

"How did you stop him?" Rachel asked. Hoagie and the rest of the Kids Next Door being here meant they had to of won somehow. "How did we win?"

"Man, you must have some serious brain damage." Hoagie uttered out quietly. "How did we win? That's a good one."

"How!"

Hoagie closed his eyes as he sighed. "Grandfather was looking for something. Some book. We got reports saying of how his 'victory wasn't assured until he brunt that book'. We had no idea what he was talking about, but he was fully convinced we had whatever it was."

"The Book of KND."

"Was that what it was called?" Hoagie asked, but didn't care for the answer. "But that's when Nigel came up with his plan. All he told us was that he was going to give Grandfather what he wanted. He was gonna give him that book."

"But…I thought you guys didn't have it?"

"We didn't. Nigel just wanted the old man to think he did."

"Why?"

Hoagie was suddenly silent again as he built up to his answer. "He came out of nowhere. Just up and ordered us, ordered anyone still on the Moonbase to go planet-side. Said he had some plan and that we needed to help out any survivors. Me and Abby tried to get him to come with us, but he just told us to trust him. And like idiots, we did." He paused again. "We haven't even got through the atmosphere before panic attacks over radio came in. Everyone was freaking out because Grandfather had snuck by us and was on the Moonbase. On the Moonbase with Nigel. The bald idiot actually told the guy he had the book. Can you believe that?"

"He lured Grandfather to the Moonbase?" The girl only took the boy's silence as a affirmation. "Why?"

Hoagie held his face in his hand as he let out a shakey sigh. "We were about to turn around. I can still remember every word Abby shouted in my ear, yelling at me to go faster. I tried. I really did. But I wasn't fast enough. I was supposed to be the best. I was the ace. So _why_ wasn't I fast enough?" He mumbled, more to himself then Rachel. "Then some recorded message started playing. Nigel giving one last speech to every operative still out there. Heh, he…he was never good at goodbyes. Heh heh." He chuckled again.

Rachel felt her heart stopping. "No…h-he didn't –"

"I wasn't really listening. I was trying to will the ship to go faster. Try to get there in time you know? And we did. We did get there in time." He lowered his hands, and no smile was on his face. Just a blank expression, and hints of wetness behind his goggles. "We got there just in time to see the old Moonbase drifting into the sun, with Nigel and Grandfather trapped on broad."

Rachel found herself losing her step and stumbling a bit, barely catching herself on the nearby table. She couldn't handle all that at once. She closed her eyes and tried to push the information out of her head. She didn't want to hear it. She didn't want hear that Nigel was –

"Some story, huh?" She snapped her head up to see Hoagie back on his feet. Fiddling with his screwdriver. The boy inspected it, then went back to work again. "I may have skipped a few parts. Like how Abby blamed herself as she tends to do and quit. Like how she's mindlessly sipping coca with her sister right now. Cree stopped bothering the KND some time after she did, isn't that odd?" He muttered as he kept twisting his screwdriver. "I may have skipped how I really didn't see the point in flying anymore, or how I opened up shop down here to fix old junk that needs to be fixed. I didn't mention any of that, but it got the point across didn't it?"

Rachel found her leaping away from Hoagie, almost as if she was afraid of him. This wasn't right. Numbuh 2 wasn't supposed to be some morbid, retired old blacksmith. Numbuh 3 and 4 weren't supposed to worlds away, having their own separate lives away from each other. Numbuh 5 wasn't supposed to quit and fade away from memory. And Numbuh 1, Nigel wasn't supposed to be – "No!"

"Don't know why I didn't fully move on like the others." Hoagie continued. "It would be easier. Signing up for early decommissioning, or going to some other sector and make new friends. Just forget I was ever part of it." He stopped for a moment, really looking at the C.O.O.L.B.U.S he was repairing. It reminded him a lot of his old one. The old one that carried his team everywhere. All five of them. Him joking at the wheel, Abby leafing through some magazine at the radar, Wally pretending to blast away bad-guys at the cannons, Kuki having some tea party with the targeting system, and Nigel. Nigel sitting in his captain's chair trying to convince them that rainbows could brainwash them while they all laughed. Such good memories. His memories.

"But maybe that's it. Maybe I don't want to forget." He spoke as he lowered his tool for a second. "Maybe I don't want to be like all the rest and forget. Maybe I want to be the one who remembers. Be Numbuh 2, the last man standing of the real Sector V. Maybe this _is_ my way of moving on. Remembering all the bad times, and good times. Maybe that makes me happy. Remembering everything when no one else does. Because if I'm the only one who remembers, that…that makes it more unique and special, doesn't it?" He then shrugged, getting back to work. "Yeah. They're my special memories. My life. All mine. No one's gonna take it away from me." Another twist, it was almost done. "No one will."

This was wrong. This was all so wrong. Rachel shook her head wildly trying to get a grip, close her eyes and wish it all away. But Hoagie was still there, still working away. But that couldn't be Hoagie. Just like how Nigel couldn't be…

"Where's Nigel?" Rachel growled, sick and tried of all these cruel tricks. "I'm done playing this game, Henry! Where is he?"

"Heh, you're starting to forget too." Hoagie uttered out. "There's nothing left of Nigel, remember? It's not like we could go to the sun and –"

_CL-CLICK!_

Hoagie stopped mid sentence as he felt the barrel of a loaded S.C.A.M.P.P being pressed into the back of his skull. If she grabbed the one _he_ fixed, then it would hurt a lot if she fired it point blank. But he could feel the weapon shaking, which meant she was shaking. And if his hearing was in order, then Rachel had some pretty labored breathing going on back there. He only rolled his eyes. The first original season of Doctor Time-Space better tell him the darn secrets of the universe for this crud.

"Where is he?" Rachel growled out again, ready to blow this thing in front of her away. It wasn't the _real_ Hoagie. Just one of Henry's twisted knock offs. "Where's Nigel?"

"If you wanna pay your respects, go visit our old treehouse." Hoagie directed as he went back to work. As he expected, the pressure of the S.C.A.M.P.P slowly eased off. "Numbuh 101 had it remodeled into a memorial and it's on the other end of the neighborhood. If they haven't torn it down yet." After a few more seconds, he peered up to see Rachel running out into the snow with S.C.A.M.P.P in hand, still denying the truth in front of her, When she disappeared, he only shook his head.

"Wow Nigel, Lizzie would have been jealous." Hoagie muttered thinking about the Brit's old girlfriend. But even she had moved on too. He could only wonder how that Hispanic flyboy was handling her. The portly boy paused in his tuning, an old joke coming to mind. He smiled a bit, beginning to speak to first of it. "It's sorta like a …no." He frowned again, losing feel for it.

"That's not funny."


	5. Finale

**~5~**

When had it gotten so late? So dark and so cold. Why couldn't the environment reflect the exact opposite of what she was feeling? Why couldn't everything be all warm and filled with light and sunshine? That would make her feel a little better. At least she would like to think so. But it didn't matter, the weather outside was cold, and dark just like her current mood. But it didn't stop her from running, nothing could. The cold wetness seeping into her shoes with every new crunch of snow couldn't stop her. Slipping on some hidden patch of black ice and falling on her face couldn't stop her. The snow pelting down and trying to blind her vision couldn't stop her. She just kept running and running, praying to find that so called light at the end of the tunnel. But the further she got, the more dim it became around her.

The streets were almost completely barren, seeing as most children were already inside in bed awaiting a certain visit from the only adult they could stand. No one was out making snowman, singing carols, or anything of the sort. The only person who seemed to still be out was the lone blonde wearing a tiger striped sweater sprinting down the sidewalk, like she was trying to run herself into exhaustion.

Rachel took another blind step forward, and in her haste slipped on another patch of ice. She went tumbling forward, her arm snapping out to deter her fall. She twisted herself at an angle, and was able to regain her footing, but her foot ran into a stray curve and she went down into the snow again despite her best efforts. Growling in frustration, the girl pushed herself up and snapped out the S.C.A.M.P.P she stole from Hoagie. Aiming it down in front of her, she kept a steady, continuous beam of fire to melt the way as she rushed forward. The path was becoming clearer, but it was taking far too long for her liking. So she threw caution to the wind, and began running again.

She only slowed down when she reached a street corner, and now didn't know which way to go. Her brown orbs shifted all around the area looking for any sort of sign. Then the wind harshly whipped at her again, and she rose her arms up to shield herself. Rachel then yelped and jumped to the side when a mass of snow fell on her. She glanced up to see the wind had knocked some clumping snow off the street sign, and after quickly skimming it over, she shot off to the right, sure of her way now.

As the blonde ran, she noticed things. Things that she didn't really want to see. For instance she ran past a house, an empty house. A house she was sure that shouldn't be empty. Wasn't that Numbuh Three's house? But she ignored it, forced herself to look away as she continued running. But then she passed by another house that wasn't empty, and for some reason or another, she stopped in her tracks as she peered into the window. She could make out a small family gathered in the living room. Laughing with mirth. But her attention was drawn to the two girls on the couch. One a teenager, a dark skinned traitorous teenaged girl she knew all too well. And she knew the child sitting beside her too. The child was her sister. And they weren't fighting, they looked so darn happy.

It made her ill. It just kept proving everything around her was real and not as she knew it anymore. Tearing her attention away, Rachel ran down the street again, feeling so close to her goal. The falling snow mingled within her golden, tangled hair. Her clothing was becoming wet and matted in places where she had fallen. The wind left a chilling burn on her rosy cheeks, and with every new step, it caused her more pain to breath. But she was almost there. Just a little bit further. Another block and she would get the proof she needed to show all of them they were wrong. Nigel had to be there. He had to be.

The towering structure appearing in the distance flickered a small hope within her chest. Finally slowing down, she stepped down in her rapid pace bit by bit until she just walking. She walked down the sidewalk until she stopped and turned, still looking up at the massive snow covered treehouse.

Sector V's treehouse.

"It's still here." Rachel whispered to herself, smiling at the familiar figure. Yet as her eyes lowered, her smile did as well. Even though the tree and the base built on its branches was still there, it looked too quiet. Too lifeless. Other then the howls of the wind or the neighborhood around her, she couldn't pick up a peep of activity going on up there. She shook her head, opting to look down at the house it had grown from, but then to her dismay, the residence was still too. No light came from the window, no noises of a family reunion greeted her ears. It looked silent. Dead inside.

"There has to be a mistake." Rachel tried to reason with herself. She took a few steps closer trying to find some other answer then the obvious one. "Maybe they went somewhere else. Visited family back in England or – Gah!" She spluttered out as she ran into something. The blonde took a step back to inspect the object, which looked like some sign. She squinted her eyes, making out some writing at the top. Wiping her hand across it, the words became clearer, and her dread grew as she read them.

"F-For sale?" Her hands then furiously scampered around the rest of the post. Wanting to make out the rest of it. Once it was all cleared, she stepped back again, feeling like she had been slapped in the face. "No!"

_Sold._

"T-That's not right!" Rachel shouted off into the night. She then kicked the sign down, glaring at it like it was her mortal enemy. "This is Nigel's house…not someone else's! W-Who would've –"

"Well well well, what do we have here? Are you lost little girl?"

_'No. Not them.'_ Rachel thought grimly to herself as the voices pierced her ears. She slowly turned around, not wanting to shock herself. She looked a few feet away from where the voices had come from, and she recognized the forms of the five children who she could honestly say disgusted her the most. "The Delightful Children."

"Oh? You know of us? It's not a surprise. Everyone should know who WE are." The five spoke out in perfect sync that made her cringe. They stood there in clean neat winter coats, and their dull sky blue eyes boring into her. "It's a shame we can't return the pleasantry, but if we don't know you, you most not be that important to begin with."

Rachel frowned at their words, her hand putting a tighter grip on her S.C.A.M.P.P. "What are you doing here?"

"We should be asking that question." The Delightfuls frowned as they stepped closer to Rachel, inspecting the girl. "If you're some new kid, then you should know that WE run this neighborhood. If we want to take a late night stroll, then it is our business, and we do not take lightly to little brats like you interfering with our business. Understand?"

"Look who's talking." Rachel stiffly replied. Her eyes shifted back towards the house, and she rose a finger to it as she looked back to the five spoiled children in front of her. "Who lives in that house?"

"What? That eyesore?" The Delightful arched their thin brows as they looked towards the small building. "No one lives there. Not anymore. Some undesirables used to reside there, but they departed for their home country some time ago. For while, the property was ripe for the taking." They then faced her again, this time carrying wry smirks. "That is until our Father purchased it of course."

"_Father_ owns this place?" Rachel gasped out. "N-No he doesn't! This isn't his home! This house belongs to the Unos!"

"Not anymore." The children responded. "They haven't lived there in ages. The house, and the ridiculous play-fort built over it, is legally ours now."

"No it's not!" Rachel continued to argue. "That house belongs to the Uno family! And that treehouse is the treehouse of Sector V with their leader Numbuh 1! "

"Numbuh 1. Now there's a silly little name we haven't heard in a while." The Delightfuls laughed. They looked at Rachel again, and finally noticed the 2x4 weapon in her hand. "Ah, so you're apart of that stupid baby's club as well. That it explains why you keep bringing up old names." Looked to the treehouse again and snorted. "Come to pay your respects? What a waste of time."

"Shut up!" Rachel snapped at the five. "I know who you are you delightful devils! How twisted and cruel you are. Your words can't fool me!"

"Wow, you must be some new cadet or something." They taunted. "Our words are the truth. This whole memorial sight proves them right. Would you like to hear what happened to Sector V and their oh so unbeatable leader? Well we'll tell you. He died!"

"N-No! Shut up!"

"Oh, but it's true. He flung himself and that backstabbing Grandfather straight into the sun to burn! To be devoured by the heat and wither into moldy ashes. We only wish we could have been there to see it. To see that bald idiot be put in his place!"

"I said _shut up_!"

"It's pathetic really. How you dorks actually think he was really worth anything. In the end he was just some other nameless operative who fell in battle." They glanced up to the treehouse with cruel smirks. "You can dress up his old play pen however you like. Make a memorial or some stupid museum with a lousy gift shop. But you can never hide what's underneath, because we know the truth. The truth is he's dead. Gone. He died. He didn't even die a hero," The looked back to Rachel, and grinned with delight at how much she was trembling. "He died a big fat ZERO!"

"SHUT. UP!" Rachel hissed out as she fired off her S.C.A.M.P.P. The Delightfuls flinched a bit when it graced the tips of one of their shoelaces, but manage to save face. The blonde kept her finger on the trigger, and grit her teeth as she glared hatefully at them. "Stop lying! He's not dead! He can't be!"

"Poor deluded girl." The Delightful Children tsked as they shook their heads. "If you plan on firing that toy again, we suggest you don't miss, otherwise we might have to show you OUR toy." They threatened before motioning their hands out. "And if you don't believe us, then why don't you go in and see for yourself?"

Rachel lowered her S.C.A.M.P.P as they said that. She flicked her gaze from the five in front of her, then to the house up the sidewalk. Her face scrunching up in denial, the blonde took off up the walkway to the front door, the Delightful Children laughing with every step she took.

"Don't stay too long now," They called out as they started to head back to their home. "Father will be burning this place down as a Christmas present tomorrow! Ah ha ha ha ha ha!"

Rachel ignored their haunting laughter as she made it up to the door. Her hand rose to the doorknob, half expecting it to be locked, but to her shock, it opened easily. Without another word, she stepped in and looked around inside. The interior was blank, having nothing to even identify it as a home anymore. But she noted with suspicion that there was velvet rope and crayoned colored signs pointing her down a certain path. After a moment, she remembered Hoagie's words. Of how Numbuh One o' One had remolded the place into some sort of memorial. Saving the information away, she continued on.

She passed the entry to the kitchen, past the barren study, She almost went up the stairs, just to check and see if Nigel was in his room, but she pushed that aside and continued on to the back of the house, hoping all her questions would be answered soon. The path led her to a door, and when she opened it, she saw that it continued down into a dimly lit basement. Deciding to keep following the signs, she dove down with gentle footing.

The basement of the house seemed overrun with roots of the tree, more so then any other part of the house. There were poorly painted caution signs all around, warning her to watch her step. But she paid them no mind, only kept walking forward to something hidden near the back wall. The secret entrance to the treehouse. They had built a small security booth around the door apparently to manage any lines that formed. She arched a brow, then gripped her S.C.A.M.P.P tighter when she saw the door opening. Out came an operative she had never seen before, probably the guard. He looked ready to close up and go home, but after hours or not, he was about to let her in.

The boy closed the door carefully before turning the light at his station out. He reached for his keys to lock the gate, but then swatted his hand away when he remembered that one kid was still up there. The guy had better remember to lock up when he was done or he'd never hear the end of it from Numbuh One o' One. He went to zip up his polka, but stopped when he saw some blonde girl walking up to him. "Uh, sorry. The memorial's closed."

"I don't care." Rachel grumbled out as she stepped into the light. "Open the door."

"Look lady, I said it's closed –"

"I SAID OPEN THE DOOR!"

"HOLY!" The boy jumped when Rachel suddenly shoved her S.C.A.M.P.P in his face. He gulped while trying to form the words. "I-It's not locked! Just go in!" Rachel lowered her weapon, and pushed the boy aside as she went through the gate. Once inside the trunk of the tree, she looked to the end of the bark hall to see a service elevator leading up. When he saw that she had gone up, the kid dusted himself off.

"Man, the holidays are whack." He muttered to himself as he headed off to the stairs, not caring what happened here anymore. "First that janitor goes up then that crazy chick…"

* * *

Rachel tapped her foot against the floor as the elevator climbed its way up. It was faster then any adult crafted elevator, but it still moved far to slow for her liking. Dim lights crawled down her body with every new floor, and she fidgeted uncomfortably as it neared the final stop. She wasn't completely sure if she was ready to go through with this. If she found something she didn't like, there was no telling how she would react. But she had to do this. There was no other way to know for certain. It was one of those things she just had to see with her own eyes.

The elevator clicked to a stop, and the metal doors slowly opened to reveal the way into the treehouse. After a minute to calm her nerves, she carefully stepped in. Her footsteps echoed, and she winced at the noise they caused, and once she was out of the elevator, she jerked in surprise when it closed and started to climb back down, stranding her there. She frowned back at the way she came in, then looked forward to get a good guess of her location. It looked like some sort of lobby. But other then that, there was nothing that interested her. She glanced across the room to another doorway. Going with a gut feeling, she took off down the hall.

After swerving down a corner, Rachel bolted off down the dark corridor looking for anything. Absolutely anything that could give her hope. She stopped as she came across a large door with the number five painted across it. Ignoring the velvet ropes warning her to stay out, she pressed her hand against the lock and watched as it opened. She peered inside expecting to see cushions, lounge chairs, and magazines scattered across the floor, but her heart started thumping faster when she saw the room was empty.

The girl then continued down the hall trying to find another room, and she found Numbuh Four's. Silently praying, she opened the door, and found it empty as well. The wrestling ring in the center was just collecting dust at this point in time.

She continued on the Numbuh Three's room, hoping to find cute, stuffed animals and dolls coating the area from wall to wall. But when she opened the door, the image of a bubbly raven haired Oriental jumping up and down on her bed faded into an barren room. Nothing, just like the others

Rachel pushed herself off the wall, her face crinkling with agitation as she stayed on the path. She found herself running into a large hanger door with the number two slashed across in dull blue paint, as she approached, she felt the cold wind of the outside slap her in the face as she ventured into the hanger. There were no blueprints for crazy new inventions hanging off the walls, or any airplanes descending from the roof. The whole area had been stripped and remodeled into some parking lot for 2x4 ships that came to visit.

The blonde's face dropped as she leaned against the railing, having stopped at a dead end. She looked down from the balcony she was standing from and noticed a series of branches steadily lowering down to the bottom floor. Stepping back to gain distance, she ran forward and leapt over the railing. Her hand shot out and grabbed hold of a branch. Using her momentum, she swung herself forward and her foot landed on another branch. She stepped off and stuck her other foot out, and carefully hopped from footing to footing. Once she reached the last branch in her sight, she bent her knees and sprung off of it, her hand flying out to grab a pole. Holding on for dear life, she curled around it as she slid back down. She grunted she jumped off, and once she was on the floor, she continued her run to the door.

Rachel felt tears stinging her eyes as she ran down the final hallway. She knew this was the last one because she had passed everyone else's. It had counted down from five to two, and every single room so far had been empty, nothing left. The truth was right in front of her, but she refused to see it just yet. He had to still be there. He had to be. She approached the final door, and saw that it wasn't opening automatically like the others. Clenching her eyes shut, she jerked up her arms as she charged through it.

"HAAH!"

She felt the hollowed out wood planks crack and break under her weight. She pushed through and didn't try and stop herself from falling to the floor. She laid there for a moment, eyes still shut as she felt the prickles of broken wood rain down on her back. Taking in a shakey breath, she dragged her hands to her torso, and eased herself up to her feet. Rachel stood straight, but had yet to open her eyes. The blonde almost flinched away, but took a confident stride forward as her lids fluttered. Deciding it was now or never, she revealed her chocolate pupils to the world as she studied the room she had entered.

A strangled sound escaped her throat and a lone tear traveled down her cheek

It was Sector V's main debriefing room. The wide room came out like a large oval, and panned windows showcased the neighborhood below and snowstorm outside. Shut down computer terminals didn't make a beep or click as they sat there waiting to be operated by kids who were never coming back. In the center of the room was the hologram projector circled by a green sofa that always seemed so welcoming and inviting. Everything about the room had remained untouched, all except the one thing that held Rachel's attention.

The blonde took silent steps up, walking around the hologram nesting area to stare transfixed at the object before her. Up there on the deck was where the commander's podium used to stand. Where a certain bald British boy used to give out new mission details, or give a rallying speech before going after some Delightful cake. She could even almost see him mouthing out orders to anyone who would listen.

But the sad part of it was, he wasn't there. The podium had been replaced. Where it used to stand was now a medium sized statue of the number one crafted out of recycled and melted scrap metal. The statue gave off a silvery glint, and she noticed some inscriptions traveling down the length of it. Names of operatives who fell during the Grandfather attack. The same names she had to read over when this happened while she was Supreme Leader. But at the bottom of the statue was a plaque carrying a new name she didn't have to read when she was Supreme Leader. A name she had never wanted to see on something like this. She forced herself to read what lay written, forced herself not to bawl her eyes out as they trailed over it.

_In Memory of Nigel Uno, Soopreme Leader of the Kids Next Door_

_Numbuh One Operative, Son, and Friend_

_May He Never Grow Old_

_1996-2006_

"N-No." Rachel stuttered out as she backed away from the statue. She gazed up the length of it, eyes shining with unshed tears as she tried to deny it. But this was why she had came up here, why she had snapped on Hoagie and the Delightful Children. She wanted to prove them wrong even though deep down she knew they were right. But of course she had to come anyway. Had to come see for herself. And now that she had, there was no taking it back. Here in this life, there was no Sector V. There was no Numbuh One. There was no Nigel Uno. The boy was dead.

The boy was gone.

Rachel shook lightly as she tucked her arms to her chest, trying to calm herself and gather warmth, but it did no good at all. She sniffled a bit, still not believing that this had happened. And when she looked up at the statue again, saw that it was still there mocking her, she dropped to her knees, and lowered her head in despair. "…No."

"Cookie?"

The blonde rose her puffy eyes at the voice and looked to see a hand offering her a Christmas cookie. She followed the length of the arm to see it belonged to Henry. The blue hooded angel just stood there, looking down at her with an unreadable face and offering her some sweet she didn't want. After a few more minutes, the boy shrugged and repealed his hand. He then started to walk around Rachel, inspecting the cookie as she followed him with her eyes silently.

"They always help me feel a bit better when I'm down. Give me a little perk to lighten the mood." He spoke as he slowly twirled the round baked treat in his fingers. "I haven't had a cookie in _real_ long time. I won't bore you with numbers, but you could imagine how much I wanted one. For a while, I had actually thought it was all I really wanted. Funny huh?" He chuckled a bit. "But with every new bite, it seems to lose its sweetness, its appeal. You keep eating it and eating it, and by the time it's gone, you realize it's just a cookie. They're a dime a dozen." He spoke as he took a bite, seeming to chew on the snack without caring. "You have more at the ready, but then you wonder what the point is. If you have it all the time, it stops being special. Sooner or later, you're just going to get sick of it. You find out there is too much of a good thing." He noticed Rachel out of the corner of his eye then frowned. "I was rambling, wasn't I?"

Rachel just stared at Henry, having no idea of what to say. She looked away from back to the memorial statue, and found words coming to her bit by bit. "Is…is he really –"

"Yeah." Henry finished as he gazed at the statue himself. "Shame he had to pull a 'Chad' to save everyone, but there was no other option. He couldn't leave the Moonbase, couldn't go off and find Numbuh Zero. Grandfather would have ravaged the Earth to find and destroy that book, so Nigel had to trap the guy in his own obsession. Too bad he didn't make out, but you know how it is." He shrugged as he took another bite of his last cookie. "The captain goes down with the ship."

"So…y-you knew?" Rachel questioned as she faced the boy. Her fire flaring again, her nails dug into her palms as her vision reddened. "You _knew_ about this? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?"

Henry only smirked "You never asked." His smirk then fell when Rachel snapped up her S.C.A.M.P.P and fired at him. He looked down at his chest and watched as the laser phased right through him without leaving a mark. He then rose a brow as she fired again, obviously just venting her anger at this point. "Believe it or not, that actually stings a little bit."

"You _killed_ him!" Rachel cried as she kept firing the weapon despite it having no affect other then ignoring him. Finally giving up, she flung the useless rifle across the room. "I'll NEVER forgive you for that!"

"Hold up now," Henry motioned as he raised his free hand. "It's not like I personally threw him into the fire. If that's what you're peeved about, then go take it up with the angel of death. Nigel dying was just another side effect of me altering time to your wish." He rolled back his shoulders as he nibbled on his cookie. "It just fell through the cracks that way."

"But how could you?" Rachel uttered out as she forced another wave of sadness back. "How could you do it knowing he was going to die?"

"But Rachel," Henry started as he rose an amused brow. "I only did what you asked me to do."

"WHAT?" The girl screamed out appalled, her cracked voice bouncing off the wall. She snapped her gaze between Henry and the memorial, completely blindsided of what he just accused her of. "I-I didn't ask for _THIS!_"

"I know what you asked of me. You wanted me to make it so you never became Supreme Leader, among other hinted things. Well you got your wish." He looked back her, face still blank. "Aren't you happy?"

Rachel wildly shook her head in negative. Failing to see how her not becoming Supreme Leader could ultimately lead up to Nigel dying. "But why _him_? Why did he have to…t-to die?"

"Well, _someone_ had to be Supreme Leader. As for the rest, I suppose that's how the cookie crumbles." He suddenly stopped then looked down to the treat in his hand with a dry look. "We're really pushing this symbolism thing, aren't we?"

"But…" Rachel weakly mumbled as she huddled down again. "But that's not fair."

"How is it _not_? Look at you. You've got everything!" Henry motioned as he flung his arms out. The boy hopped up on the deck and began walking along the edge. "You've got this fun and easy job, friends who remember the right gifts to get you, a picture perfect family, and no world weighing down on your shoulders. Isn't that what you asked for?" He then stopped, one hand leaning against the statue whilst the other motioned to it. "Isn't this what you wanted?"

"No!" Rachel yelled as she looked up to the angel. "I would have _never_ wanted him gone! I want him here alive with everyone else. With me!"

Henry only shook his head as he pushed off the memorial. "Well I'm sorry, but this is how it all evens out dear. I told you before, you can't get _everything_ you want. There has to be balance. You wanted your childhood," He reached down into his hoodie pouch and to her shock, pulled out a pair of distinctively familiar sunglasses. "So I had to take Nigel."

Rachel eyes followed the shades every way Henry swung them about. Her hand almost rose up to try and grab them, but she stopped herself when she realized the angel was still talking.

"But I don't see what there is to be so upset about. He obviously wasn't that important to you. So many times we put him there to help with your troubles, to make your job more bearable. We gave you something we thought you might appreciate, a shoulder to cry on when you needed it." He went on as he rolled the shades on his fingers. Then suddenly, he clutched his hand around them. "But from the looks of it, you didn't care that much. Ignored him and his offerings."

Rachel glared at Henry as she tried to rebuttal. "I've never ignored –" She was interrupted when Henry's face was suddenly in front of her's. She flinched back, then yelped as he placed something over her eyes. He put Nigel's shades on her face for some reason. She was about to jerk them off, but froze when she made something out in the lens, a small scene playing out. A memory.

"_What if I stayed to help?" Nigel offered as he motioned his hand about. "Two heads are better then one, and things could get finished up faster so you'll still have the chance to get home." He then smiled warmly as he waited on baited breath for her answer. "And even still, at least you won't be all by yourself for Christmas."_

_Rachel was still too deeply immersed within her paperwork to fully register the extent of the boy's offer. Once she was able to think a bit on something other then the document, she waved off the boy motioning him to leave. "That's quite alright Nigel but this is my duty to deal with, not yours."_

"_Oh." Was all Nigel managed to get out. He was expecting her to disagree and come up with some excuse. Something along the lines of 'not wanting to ruin his evening as well'. If that had been the case, then he had a planned response to it. But the bluntness of her statement took him by storm. So much that he actually found himself stopping while she continued onward. "Are you sure?" Seeing her walk away brought forth a depressing feeling within his chest._

"_I'll be fine." Rachel nodded as she prepared to turn into the service elevator. Her eyes strayed upward a bit, feeling a strong urge to glance back at Nigel and see him off. She had a smile ready to go as she rose her head to look back, but then she caught sight of yet another surprise hitch in the paper and snorted as her attention was fully drawn to the sheet once more. "Merry Christmas, Nigel."_

"_Merry Christmas, Rachel."_

Rachel sat there slack jawed as Henry pulled the shades away. Her look lingered to the ground as she processed what she had just witnessed. "He…he wanted to stay. And I just…" She couldn't believe it. She was sure she would've have remembered if…

"_No one's offered to help? Stay behind so you wouldn't have to do it on your own?"_

"_Does it look like someone offered to stay?"_

"_Just thought someone would."_

"_I think I would know if someone offered to help or not."_

She blinked back more wetness as another memory played in her mind of its own accord. It was all right there. Someone did offer to help her out. Nigel was willing to give up his Christmas to spend it helping her out so she could still have her's to look forward to. But she had made herself so busy that she, "I ignored him…"

"Sucks, doesn't it? Blinded yourself with your own troubles that you couldn't even see the guiding light." She looked off to the side the see Henry finishing up his cookie. "But it doesn't matter now. He's gone and you got your wish."

Rachel back up at the statue, not knowing what to say. "I…I just wanted…" She tried to think of a liable excuse, but growled to herself when she couldn't think straight. "I don't know what I wanted!"

"I'll tell you what you wanted. You wanted to be a kid, or at least what you thought being a kid was." Henry explained as he turned back to her. "You obviously weren't happy with what you had already been given, you found something to complain about. You didn't want to work, you didn't want to sign boring papers. You wanted to go play, you wanted to have fun. You wanted to act like a kid because you kept thinking your job stopped you from doing that." The angel then smiled a bit. "But in way, you were already acting like a kid. Just like any normal kid, you wanted out of your responsibility."

"I just…" Rachel tried to explain, but found herself not being able to. She didn't know what to think, but there must be something she could say to prove him wrong. But then she jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked up to see the angel staring down at her.

"There's nothing wrong with that. You're not perfect, can't claim to be wise and know everything." He then took his hand away took a few steps away from her. "But you have to understand that you chose it all. No one forced you to become Supreme Leader, I've shown you that much. And even if you didn't, someone else would." He stopped and they both looked to the statue again. "But you did choose it, and honestly, you're lucky you're getting this much say in it."

Rachel wasn't following. "What do you mean?"

"You became Supreme Leader, but then didn't want to be, but also didn't want to face the consequences of backing out. Then I came along and made all that possible. I'm your easy way out. You didn't become Supreme Leader and got back the childhood you felt you were deprived of." Henry stopped, then fully faced her. "That's what you wanted, right?"

Rachel held her arm as he asked that question. He had asked it so many times during the course of the night, and now that she really thought on it, she never gave him a full answer. And even now, she didn't know if she could. "I don't think I really know what I want anymore."

"Well you better figure it out fast."

Rachel stopped, then looked at Henry confused. "Why?"

The boy only lifted up his wrist, showing the watch hidden behind his sleeve. "It's ten forty-one."

The girl stared at the watch for a few seconds as she tried to figure out what he was talking about. Then it hit her. At ten forty-five _this_ life was going to become permanent. "W-Wait! You don't mean –"

"At ten forty-five, this will be your life. Your old life and all your memories will fade away; becoming nothing more then some scant dream as new ones take their place. You only have a few more minutes to invoke your exit clause." Henry uttered seriously. "So I'll ask you one last time. What do you want, Rachel? To have the ultimate childhood? Or your old desk job back?"

"How could you ask…" Rachel trailed off, feeling pressured under the time limit. The blonde let out a frustrated scream as she glared at the boy in front of her. "Why are you giving me so little time?"

"Well, that's kinda your fault." Henry muttered a tad sheepish. "I wasn't planning on pulling the time card. I was going to put everything back either way. But then you went on about how this is what you wanted, and I kinda had to agree since that's my job. Talk about fashioning your own noose." He shrugged. Looking away from the troubled girl, he looked up to the memorial statue with a hidden smirk. "Besides, what's one kid compared to the ultimate childhood?"

Rachel froze at those words and looked past him to Nigel's grave site. Her expression fell and she glanced to her angel with a torn gaze. "Why…why are you making me choose?"

"Because growing up is about choosing the way you live your life. And Rachel T. McKenzie, it's time to step off the pedestal, take off the colander, and start doing some growing up yourself. So what's it gonna be? Thirteen of the best years you could ever hope to have? Have fun battling the bad guys, saving the day and going back to your home without any worries?" He then held out his other hand, and opened it revealing the sunglasses. "Or maybe a chance? A chance to start molding something better then a few years you'll outgrow and forget. A chance to make some mistakes while working to make all your other wants, all your other dreams the reality." He then looked at his watch and frowned. "And hurry up, you're running out of time and I've ran out of meaningful stuff to say."

Rachel's gaze never broke from the sunglasses in Henry's hand. While the clocked ticked on, she did what he had instructed her to do earlier. To weigh everything she would gain, and everything she would lose in the process.

She would get a life without having to worry about the management of the Kids Next Door, not worry about starting some war if she signed the wrong paper. She would get a whacky team of friends to call her own and get to do all that cool amazing feats she heard other sectors brag about. She would get to be some hero. She would get her brother being a tad nicer to everybody, making him less of an outcast because of his quirks. She would get all that and possibly more.

But what would she lose?

She would lose the opportunity of running the best organization of kids she had ever stumbled upon.

"Five."

She would lose the friendship of the flaming Irish redhead who was always quick to defend her honor, and the arctic drill sergeant who always made sure she was respected as the leader she was.

"Four."

She would lose all that experience. All those memories that were her own. All the wonderful and horrible times she had endured, but got to call her own. Her own set of special and unique memories.

"Three."

She would lose _her_ life. The one that she had worked for. The one that had shaped her into Rachel, Numbuh Three Sixty-Two. The one that was still shaping her, preparing for life after Kids Next Door was over for her. She would lose the person she had become.

And finally, she would lose that one thing that kept her on her toes. The one thing that made it all worth while.

"Two."

She would lose Nigel.

"One –"

"GIVE IT BACK!" Rachel cried out as she snatched the sunglasses from Henry's hand. The blonde held the items to her chest as she went on her knees, clenching her eyes shut and willing this nightmare to be over. "I want MY life back! Mine! No one else's! That's what I want!" She yelled, the last of fire flickering out as she huddled on the floor sparkling tears slipping between her eyelids. She wanted to open them, but was too afraid. If she opened her eyes and found out she was still in Sector V's treehouse huddled under that statue honoring the dead, then she would completely shatter. "Please…"

"Numbuh 362?"

"GAH!" Rachel jumped when a hand touched her arm. She jerked up right and frantically looked around. "W-Wha?" Where the heck was she? It was too bright to be Sector V's treehouse, and the floor was too…soft? She felt down to feel some cushiony material under her. She knitted her brows, then prepared to freak out again when she noticed Nigel's sunglasses weren't in her hands anymore. "W-Where are they?"

"Where are what, m'am?"

"AH – What the?" Rachel blinked confused at the kid in front of her. He was dressed in some brown work outfit with a matching cap. He held a broom in one hand while the other hand was placed on the cleaning cart behind him. The blonde girl looked utterly bewildered at the stranger. "W-Who are you?"

"Um," The kid started. "The janitor?"

"Janitor? Wait…" Rachel stopped as she studied his face, suddenly her eyes widened. "Henry!"

"You know my name?"

"Of course I know your name! You're my…" However, Rachel's face softened and her voice drifted off as her pupils adjusted to the lighting better. The boy in front of her shared the same name as Henry, even the same codenumbuh if his name-tag was correct. But upon closer inspection, it wasn't her guardian angel. His hair was too light, face too thin. And his eyes were dull gray, not smug violet.

"I'm your what now?"

"…Never mind. My mistake." Rachel mumbled as she lowered her arms. She then looked past Henry, who wasn't _Henry_, to analyze her surroundings. To her surprise, she wasn't in the cold, dark debriefing slash memorial room of Sector V. She was somewhere else entirely. She was in a lobby like area, with two high tech doors on one side of the room, and a large staircase leading up somewhere on the other side. The petite blonde looked over her shoulder out the window, but only saw the night sky. But, it didn't look exactly like the night sky. It almost looked as if she were in space.

Hold up.

"Where are we?" Rachel asked as she faced the janitor again.

"Uh, on the Moonbase in the Supreme Leader's lobby." The boy answered, wondering if the girl had hit her head.

"Moonbase?" Rachel repeated confused. "What am I doing here?"

"Well you needed to go to the bathroom, but I had just mopped in there." The janitor explained. "You said you were gonna sit out here and wait for it to dry up some. You musta dozed off."

"I…fell asleep?" Rachel mumbled. "In the lobby?" That didn't add up. Yes, she was starting to remember getting up and going to the bathroom. But she never remembered falling asleep.

"Yeah. I came back up during my rounds and saw you here." The janitor said as he started mopping at the floor. "Looked like you were having some nightmare."

"Nightmare." Rachel whispered to herself. She remembered going to the bathroom, then back up to her office. Then Henry, the angel, showed up and then…she remembered it all so clearly. But it had all been a dream? Suddenly she tensed, not wanting underestimate the angel. For all she knew, this could be some new trick! "H-Henry, I need to know something!"

"I _do_ have a codenumbuh, m'am."

"Whatever. Just answer this question." Rachel motioned out to catch his attention. "Who's the Supreme Leader?"

"Uh, you are?"

"R-Really?"

"Last I checked, m'am."

"I'm the Supreme Leader? Me? Numbuh 362?" She asked, and all the janitor could was nod, not wanting to get in trouble for back talking to the Supreme Leader. Even if she was acting weird. "Not Patton?"

"Numbuh 60? Pfft. That guy can stay in the arctic where he belongs." The boy muttered. If Numbuh Sixty was the Supreme Leader, he would probably make janitors like him clean the floor with toothbrushes…while doing push-ups! Then he froze, remembering that Numbuh Three Sixty-Two was friends with the guy. "P-Please don't tell him I said that."

"Am I really back?" Rachel mumbled to herself, not completely certain. Her hands went to her head, and she panicked when all she felt was her hair. "Where's my helmet?"

"I think you left it in your office."

The blonde snapped her look up the stairs. _Her_ office. Without a second thought, she took off to reach the room. "I have to make sure!"

Back at the bottom, the janitor only shook his head as he went back to work. "Man, the higher in rank you are, the crazier you must be."

* * *

Rachel burst through the office door then froze, half expecting the security system to fry her for intruding unannounced. But after a moment, she was fine and she made her way to the desk, still not sure if it was her's again. She spotted the metal colander helmet, and stiffened as she put her hands around it. Flinching away, she quickly turned it around and held the emblem to her face. She thought she was going to be met with Patton's number, but her hope bubbled when she only saw her own.

"Three Sixty-Two." She read aloud. It really was her's. She then remembered all her other items, then began digging in her pockets to find them. "My security card." She pulled out the plastic item, and found a smile growing as she continued to search. "My Global Command Key." She then pulled out the golden key, its metal shining in the light of the office. Her office. After placing the two items on the table, she reached around for one more thing. "My ID." She pulled out the thin card, and held her breath as she stared reading it. And is it went on, her grin only got larger.

"Operative: Rachel T. McKenzie. Codenumbuh: 362. Cadet Next Door Class of 2000 Graduate. Age Eleven. Sector: Moonbase. _Supreme Leader_." She read, running a free hand through her hair to get a hold of herself. "I…I don't believe it." Everything was there. Everything she had on her that had been taken after her wish had been returned. Her security card. Her key. Her proper ID. But then she paused, thinking she was still missing something. Tucking the ID back into her pocket, her hands fled to her sweater's pouch the find one last item to prove she was home.

"They have to be here. They should be…" After a few minutes of mumbling, she produced a plastic bag of cookie crumbs. Cookies crumbs from her Christmas cookies. "Harvey's Christmas cookies!" She had saved a few of them for one of her cookie breaks before she made her wish, and they disappeared afterwords. But if they were still there, if the crumbs were there, that mean she _did_ have them. It meant she never left. It meant,

"I'm Supreme Leader again!" She had never felt more happier to say those words, even after she took the title back from Father all that time ago. She felt like letting go of her serious demeanor and giggle like some giddy school girl. Everything she had seen, everything she had been through was fixed. It was all as it should be now. It had all been some dream.

"A dream." Rachel spoke out as she stopped her victory dance. She slowly looked to her bag of cookie crumbs once more, now remembering something. "Wait, that can't be right. I never ate these cookies." She didn't even know she had the cookies until soon time after she came back from the bathroom, and she really didn't remember falling asleep. "I couldn't of ate these. Any of them. I gave them all to…"

A light metal clang caught her attention and she turned around to see what had caused it. There on the center of her desk was her sliver cookie tin. She looked at it skeptically, pretty sure it wasn't there when she came in. Besides, she gave the thing to Henry to enjoy. Remembering that bit of information, she walked over to it and picked it up, instantly noticing how light it was. Ever so curious, she cracked open the lid and peered inside.

What greeted her was one stray cookie with an angel design coating the exterior. The baked treat lay in the center, obviously the last one left out of the whole tin. Narrowing her eyes, she thought she saw something under the cookie. She scooped up the cookie and the strange thin item with her fingers, and put the tin down before looking to her hand. She separated the cookie and the item, and to her surprise it was a small post-it note. The one Harvey gave her? Gently unfolding it, she was determined to find out.

_Hey Rachel. Told you I would save you one, and I saved the best for last. Enjoy it, you deserve it. You made a hard gut decision back there, and gave up a set life for an uncertain one. It's not the first tough decision you've made, and it's not going to be the last. But remember when it comes down to it, you always have a choice in how to make your own future. I can't help you much there, but my boss says to go with your first instinct and you'll be fine. Or something like that, I wasn't paying that much attention. Anyway, good luck and thanks,_

_Henry._

By the time she finished the note, Rachel placed it in the pouch of her sweater and looked to the cookie in her hand. After thinking it over, the girl smiled as she took a slow bite of the sweet snack. Once it had all been gulped down, her grin grew as she studied the rest of it. "It even has nuts in it!"

As she enjoyed her snack, a knock on the door interrupted her savoring of the treat. Wondering who else could be coming up to her office, she lowered her hand and waited for the person to step in. "Come in." The kid entered, and Rachel smiled at who it was. "Fanny!"

"M'am." The redhead greeted as she fully stepped into the room. Once she had unruffled her green long sleeved shirt, she coughed into her hands as she began to explain. "I jus' came up here to – Hey!" She gasped in surprised as she suddenly found herself in a tight hug by Rachel. "Uh, what are ya doin', m'am?"

"I'm hugging my best friend!" Rachel smiled as she gripped the Irish girl. After loosening her grip, she looked back at Fanny a tad worried. "We are friends, right?"

"Sure we are." Fanny awkwardly nodded as Rachel backed off. A hand rose to scratch under her helmet as she looked over the blonde to make sure she was alright. "Ye jus' surprised me is all."

"Sorry about that, it's just…heh. You wouldn't believe what I've been through." Rachel chuckled a bit as she shuffled her foot. Her eyes then narrowed, and she looked up at the girl confused. "But wait, what are you still doing here Fanny? I let you all go home hours ago."

"I think yer watch is fast m'am, it wasn't even thirty minutes ago." Fanny said, feeling the need to correct her. "And I know ya told me ta go home, but I was worried about ye. Making yourself busy on Christmas Eve. I wanted ta help ya out, so I went ahead and locked up Decommissioning so you would hafta." She admitted as she stuffed her hands in her pockets. "Stupid boys shut down remote security, so it woulda taken ya forever to do."

"You did that for me?" Rachel asked only for Fanny to nod. The blonde was touched, here she had thought she would have to do everything because no one else wanted to, but Fanny went ahead and helped her out so she wouldn't have to. Rachel warmly smiled at the girl. "Thank you Fanny. That…that means more then you know."

"Right." Fanny slowly answered, deciding to just go with it. Even she couldn't claim to know what went on in Rachel's head. She was the Supreme Leader after all. "Anyway, I just wanted ta come up and check on ye before I left since nobody's staying behind to help you."

"That's nice Fanny but someone already…" Rachel's eyes widened as it all came back to her. "Nigel! Fanny quick!" She spoke out urgently as she looked at the girl with an expression of desperation. "Where is he?"

"What? Numbuh 1?" Fanny snorted at the thought of the arrogant bald boy. "Last I saw of him, he was heading down to the hanger bay to leave."

"Then I'm not too late." Without another word, Rachel tucked her unfinished cookie into her pouch then rushed past Fanny, intent on reaching the hanger bay before she missed him. She needed to know he was alright. The blonde spared one backwards wave to Fanny before disappearing down the hallway. "Have a good holiday Fanny!"

Fanny could only slowly wave back as she arched a brow at the girl's strange action. "You too, Rachel."

* * *

"We're ready whenever you are, chief!"

Nigel looked away from the window and back to his team's ship when he heard his friend call out to him. With a curt nod, the Brit turned back to gazing at the planet below. "I'm on the way, Numbuh 2." After adjusting his shades, the bald operative turned and began marching across the expanse of the hanger back to his ship.

He couldn't recall seeing the port this empty before. It was only him and his team waiting in the ship on the other side. It looked so large and wide with just them still hanging around, every other kid had taken off to go home. The only reason he was still there was because he had been waiting for Hoagie to refuel the ship once he delivered the mission report to Numbuh Three Sixty-Two. As the girl entered his thoughts, he could only sigh and hope she would be alright tonight. She didn't deserve to be alone, but if that was what she wanted, then he had to obey and let her be.

Suddenly the boy stopped as a faint sound entered his hearing. Curious, he glanced over his shoulder to look around. It was almost as if someone had called out to him. But he didn't see anyone. Nigel shrugged, turning to board his team's S.C.A.M.P.E.R. with the rest of Sector V when a voice rang out, echoing across the walls of the hanger bay. What he saw would be a sight to remember; the Supreme Leader of the Kids Next Door, leaping off of the catwalk like an acrobat and landing on her feet like a true gymnast, her feet sliding forward serving to give her momentum as she continued to run across the cavernous hanger towards them.

Before Nigel could wonder what he could possibly have done wrong to attract her attention so seriously, he was being half-hugged, half-tackled, his small frame squeezed tightly against the older girl's frame, not unlike the way Numbuh Three cuddled her Rainbow Monkeys. Yet despite the constriction, he could feel everything about her – the desperation in her embrace, the way her hair was slick and matted, as though she had been exerting herself for some time, the definition and contours of her slender frame that made him blush, and the scent of lavender mixed with sweat from whatever exertions she had been going through. Completely unsure how to react, he simply returned her hug, albeit far more gently, patting the back of her head softly.

"You're still...here..." She sniffled, in some mixture of sadness and relief. Puzzled, Nigel looked up into her face, searching for answers.

"Of course I am. Where else would I be, except perhaps on a mission." He smiled, but somehow felt as though he was being shut off from some kind of cosmic joke. To further confound him, the girl didn't respond, merely bumping her forehead against his, her softy hair, rubbing against his scalp in a way that made him feel both rather comfortable and considerably nervous.

"What's the holdup, Numbuh 1?" The pilot of the craft exited. The two looked up to see Hoagie stepping out to see what the commotion was about. "I thought you said we needed to get back before dinner or your–" Hoagie immediately stopped speaking as he got a look at his fearless leader...who was caught up in the embrace of his own leader, Nigel looking incredibly awkward and blushing at the sudden intrusion.

"Well," Hoagie smirked, "I'd tell you two to get a room, but it seems like you've got the whole hangar to yourselves!" He slapped his knee at his joke, laughing uproariously.

The sound of the boy's voice seemed to trigger something within Rachel, and she began to rely less on Nigel to support her, putting her weight onto her own feet. Hesitantly drawing away, she turned to look at Sector V's chief 2x4 Technologist with nearly as large a grin as she had previously had for Nigel. "Numbuh 2! You're back to normal!" She shouted happily, dashing over to glomp him.

"Gah!" The portly boy yelped as he was caught up in the girl's bone-crushing hug, "I didn't even know I had been abnormal!" He attempted to protest her actions, but soon seemed to become a bit taken by being fawned over so greatly by a pretty face. "Maybe I should make an effort to be abnormal more often!" He smiled.

Rachel responded by giving him a playful smack on the cheek. "Don't you ever change, Mr. Hoagie Gilligan. And don't lose track of your sector leader. That goes double for you, Numbuh 1!" She insisted, seeming to recover from her unusually girlish outburst.

"Uh, yeah. We'll keep that in mind." Nigel answered as he looked over the girl. He looked past her up to Hoagie, who just shrugged, not having a clue to what had just happened either. Shaking it off, Nigel stepped a bit closer to the blonde. "Are you alright, m'am?"

"Why yes, I feel quite fine. Better then fine! At least I do now." Rachel smiled as she regained control over her emotions, but she couldn't help it. Nigel was back, Hoagie was back. Everything was right again. "I can't remember the last time I felt this good."

"Glad to hear it." Nige smiled back himself. He then looked confused, wondering why she had decided to come back and catch him so sudden. "Was there something you needed, Numbuh 362? Something wrong with the report I gave you?"

"Oh no. It was flawless, just like always." Rachel looked down a bit as she took another step to the boy. "I wanted to make sure you guys were alright. I…I wanted to see you actually."

Nigel's blush returned. "Me?"

"Aw," Hoagie spoke out as he pretended to wipe at his eyes. "I'm a sucker for these types of moments."

Nigel deadpanned. "Numbuh 2 –"

"Hey! What the crud is takin' so long?" An Australian voice rang out as Wally appeared in the S.C.A.M.P.E.R.'s doorway. The bowl cut Aussie glanced down at the three with an impatient look. "I wanna get back to the treehouse so I can get my presents!"

"I know, right?" A much more cheerful and feminine voice spoke out as Kuki appeared at Wally's side. The raven haired girl beamed a mirthful grin as she hugged some Rainbow Monkey to her chest. "I'm so excited to see what you got me this year!" She giggled while Wally shifted his eyes. Looks like they were going to have to stop for french fries again. Suddenly the two youngest of Sector V were pulled back when the final member stepped up from behind.

"Okay you two, just wait a minute." Abby intoned as she shushed them back to their seats. Kuki skipped on back while Wally grumbled as they disappeared into the interior. With that dealt with, the spy tipped her blood red cap up to get a better look at the kids below her. "We headin' back or what, boss?"

Nigel looked up to the girl before glancing back to Rachel who was still smiling. He was half expecting her to jump up and hug those three like she had done with him and Hoagie. The British boy gave his second-in-command a timid smile as he rose his hand up. "Just a few more minutes, okay Numbuh 5?"

"It's what Abby's here for." The mocha skinned girl smirked as she gave a lazy salute. She then looked down at Hoagie and easily jerked him back into the ship by the caller. "Come on you." The portly boy only smiled and waved at Nigel and Rachel as Abby pulled him back in.

Rachel's smile never faltered as she watched the rest of Sector V huddle back into the ship. Together again. Her eyes switched back to Nigel, her chuckled as he scratched the back of his scalp. "That's some team you've got there, solider."

"Yeah," Nigel uttered back a tad embarrassed. "Still, I don't know what I would do without them sometimes."

Rachel's smile dropped as he said that, remembering what she had seen earlier. The girl looked away sadly as she rubbed her arm. "Or they without you…"

Nigel frowned at her look. "Is something wrong?"

"No…well, that's not completely true." Rachel sighed. She looked back towards the boy and shifted her eyes to the floor as she spoke. "I'm sorry for earlier Nigel. For just brushing you off and ignoring you like that. I didn't mean it."

"No need to apologize Rachel," Nigel smiled a bit as he tried to comfort her. "It's alright –"

"No it's not. You've always tried to be there. To help me out, to just talk, or make me relax with a cookie break. But I've never realized what all it really meant, I was taking you for granted. Thinking you'll always be there and wait until whenever I'm ready." Rachel looked back up to him. "But you won't always be there Nigel. Whether you want it to happen or not, you'll be gone one day. You'll be gone and that would just leave me wishing I hadn't been so stupid. Wishing I would have acted when I still had the opportunity."

Nigel frowned as her words weighed on his mind, there being some truth to them. No matter how good he thought he was, there was always the possibility of him not coming back from a mission. "I know what you mean Rachel. But as long as I have anything to say about it, I'll still be here. I will as long as I can. I know you can't do everything you want to do, you're Supreme Leader. There are some things yo have to give up."

"But I don't have to give up everything." Rachel responded as she wrung her fingers. "That's what I've been doing. Giving up everything because I thought I had to, because I thought this job was forcing me to. But that's not true, I choose to give up all those things. I choose to keep myself busy all the time just like I chose to be Supreme Leader. The only one who pressured me into doing it was me." She shook her head. She couldn't believe how short sided she was. "But I didn't realize that until now. I thought it was just my job keeping me from the things I wanted."

"But you do deserve more then what you've been given." Nigel said wholeheartedly. "That's what I believe."

"That's…that's what I selfishly thought too. And then believe or not, I got my wish." She said, trying to think of a way to tell her story without revealing too much. "I…I had this dream. This dream where I got what I wanted. Where I was free of the responsibility I had chosen. I had friends, presents, fun, everything that could make a kid happy. I thought that was all I needed."

"Sounds pretty cool." Nigel hummed in agreement, but seeing her face darken a bit, he figured that she wasn't thinking the same thing. "But what was wrong?"

"There was one thing missing. The one thing I didn't have." Rachel explained as she gazed into his eyes, making out the coal blue pupils behind the dark visors. "For a while I didn't know what it was, just knew that it left me feeling incomplete. Made everything else seem hollow. And then when I finally realized what it was, it was far too late. It was already gone." She softly uttered. Even now when she remembered that memorial she shook. But after seeing Nigel right there before her, she pushed the fear out of her mind. "Then I had to decide."

"Decide what?"

"I had to decide what I really wanted more. Did I want all those things I felt I never got, those things I felt deprived of. Or did I want to give all of that up just to get that one thing back. It was so confusing, made me feel so conflicted. But I see now, that there really wasn't a choice at all. At least not to me. Because if I had everything I wanted, had the perfect childhood a kid could hope to have and that one special thing wasn't there," She then smiled at Nigel, the strong hidden meaning lost on him just like she predicted. "Then it wouldn't be worth it in the end. It would be pointless. It wouldn't make me truly happy."

When Rachel had finally finished, Nigel couldn't help but find himself smiling as well. He wasn't quite sure if he was following along fully, but he got that this one thing meant a whole lot to her. Maybe even more then the Kids Next Door if that were possible. "So…what was that one thing?"

Rachel smirked at the boy, fighting the urge to giggle. "Now why would you want to know a thing like that, Nigel?"

"It would be a _real_ good gift suggestion." The boy playfully responded. Then his eyes widened a tidbit, and he straightened as he recalled something. "That reminds me!" His hands moved out of their parade rest position as he dug into her pocket. "I can't believe I forgot…"

"Forgot what?" He didn't answer right away, only held his hand out. When he opened it, her eyes widened as she saw the bracelet in his palm. She gently took it and looked it over. A small bracelet made out of orange and black beads, as if it were made to match her tiger striped sweater. Then there were three beads that stood out. They seemed golden in color, and had the numbers three, six, and two scratched into them. Rachel looked up to the boy confused. "What is this?"

"Your gift." Nigel answered while coughing into his hand. "I was going to give it to you earlier, but it must have slipped my mind. Heh, funny how that happens huh?"

"Believe me, I know." Rachel mumbled as her fingers traced over the smooth beads. "You made this for me?"

"Numbuh 3 helped. She said all girls liked jewelry. I guess she had a point, seeing how Lizzie used to like that sort of thing when we were dating." He then paused at what he implied, then heavily blushed as he tried to explain. "T-That isn't to say WE'RE dating! Heh heh… I just, uh, thought you might like it. Um, you _do_ like it? Because if you don't I could get you something else and –"

"I love it." Rachel answered with a smile as she placed the bracelet around her wrist. She then looked towards the boy, and pulled him into another hug. "Thank you."

"N-No problem." Nigel replied flustered. Rachel pulled away, and he looked down at the gift. "Still I think I could try for something better. Maybe I could get you that one thing you don't have if you'd tell me."

Rachel giggled, smirking confidently. "Who's to say I don't already have it?"

"Now what is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Don't worry about it. I plan on telling you," She smiled as they locked gazes. "One day." They looked down and finally noticed how close their faces were.

"Hey!" The voice caused them blush and put distance between them. Nigel fiddled with his shades while Rachel made a show of brushing off her sweater. Then they paused, and looked back to the S.C.A.M.P.E.R to see Wally tapping his foot on the ground. The blond huffed then made a show of pointing to the Earth. "What's _wrong _with you guys? There's presents waiting down there! So let's go and open 'em!"

Abby rolled her eyes as she grabbed the back of his hoodie. "Sit down, fool!"

"Hey!"

While Rachel was beginning to wonder if she missed Numbuh Four's brash interruptions or not, Nigel sighed as he faced her again. "He has a point. It is getting late. We better get going." However, he shyly smiled as he tucked his hands behind his back. "But, my earlier offer is still open."

"That won't be necessary," Before he could even look the least bit rejected, Rachel grinned. "I think it's time I went home to my family too."

Nigel blinked before chuckling. "Well in that case, let me and my team escort you there, Supreme Leader m'am." He turned to broad the S.C.A.M.P.E.R but glanced back at her one last time. "Though I'll have to admit I was looking forward spending Christmas with you."

"I don't get you, Nigel Uno." Rachel shook her head as she followed him. "Why would you want to hang out with boring old me when you have all that stuff to unwrap tomorrow morning?"

"I get those sorts of things all the time," He admitted as a small blush formed again. "But…just one smile from you is worth all the presents under the tree."

"O-Oh." Rachel mumbled as a hot blush enveloped her cheeks. A warm feeling bubble forth when he said that, and Rachel let a playful smirk grace her lips as she looked up at him. "Well in that case, I'm sure Numbuh 2 can take the long way back."

Nigel only chuckled as he stepped in the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. "That he can."

Rachel watched him enter his ship and she spared a look to the Moonbase around her. This was her base, this was her life. And now thinking back, she wouldn't have it any other way. She stuffed her hands in her pouch and prepared to step up, but stopped when she felt something. She pulled the items out to see her unfinished cookie, and the note Henry left her. With an amused smile, she read it over again. _'My first instinct huh?'_

"Coming, Rachel?"

The blonde looked up to see Nigel extended his hand down to her. She looked at his waiting palm, and smiled as she took the angel's advice. Following her first instinct, she mirrored his actions and gripped his hand, laughing as he pulled her in. The cookie and note dropped to the floor of the hanger forgotten as she was greeted by the rest of Sector V. Seeing that everyone was on deck, Hoagie smirked as he jerked back on the lever, and the S.C.A.M.P.E.R hovered upwards then rocketed down the length of the line, not stopping even after it breached the Moonbase's protective air bubble. With all said and done, the children speed off the the blue planet below to return home.

Once they had left, the janitor that woke Rachel from her nap appeared around the corner, looking over the empty bay now that everyone had left. He was about to move on, but stopped when he noticed the trash Rachel had dropped. Grumbling, he pushed his cart along as he went to pick it up and throw it away.

"Stupid higher-ups, thinking I have to pick up after them." The boy grumbled as he grabbed the note, crumbled it up, then tossed it in his moving trash can. He then saw the half eaten cookie, and rolled his eyes as he went to pick it up as well. "What am I, their mother?" The boy was about to throw away the cookie, but stopped and stared at it. He then leaned against his cart as he shook the treat lightly, wondering if the five second rule applied here. After a moment, he decided against it. He then looked toward the ceiling with a huff.

"I can't believe this. All those years of training just to sweep up after other kids. Some difference I'm making." Did anyone ever thank him for cleaning the toilets? For making sure the floor wasn't dusty? No. He didn't get any respect around here. "I wish I never got this stupid job."

"I can help with that."

The janitor yelped as he snapped around. There on other side of his cart was some kid. A boy with dark hair and smug violet eyes. He wore a blue hoodie, and there under his collar was some ensign. A small golden metal that looked like a pair of angel wings. The janitor gripped his dust pan defensively. "Who the heck are you?"

"Something's telling me the 'janitor line' isn't gonna work on you." Henry smirked at the kid. The angel noticed the cookie in the operative's hand, and motioned to it. "Hey, you gonna finish that?"

_**~End Transmission~

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**Sorry it took so long to update. I've been away for awhile.**

**Happy New Year!  
**


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